Fourteen paintings from the famous Khanenko Museum in Kyiv (Ukraine) are now on show in The Hague, appearing at Museum Bredius alongside 12 works from the museum’s own collection. Portraits, still lifes, landscapes and history paintings from Kyiv and The Hague are shown together for the first time in ensembles that tell the story of the close ties linking the Netherlands and Ukraine. Old Masters from Kyiv in The Hague. The Khanenko Museum at Museum Bredius runs until 28 September.
Bredius’s travels
It is fascinating to imagine that Abraham Bredius, founder of the eponymous collection, saw all the paintings on show here when he was in Kyiv in the late nineteenth century. It was while travelling in Eastern Europe in 1897 - in search of long-forgotten paintings by Rembrandt - that he met the collectors Bohdan (1849-1917) and Varvara Khanenko (1852-1922). Bredius wrote detailed reports recalling everything he saw in two notebooks (shown in the exhibition) describing the extensive collection assembled by the Khanenko’s. In 1919, their stately mansion in the Ukrainian capital became home to The Bohdan and Varvara Khanenko National Museum of Arts.
In the city of Peace and Justice
Museum Bredius curator Willem-Jan Hoogsteder: “In Old Masters from Kyiv in The Hague. The Khanenko Museum at Museum Bredius we want to show that Abraham Bredius and Bohdan and Varvara Khanenko shared a passion for the same European art. Two years after they met in Kyiv, the first international peace conference was held in The Hague in 1899. In this exhibition Old Masters from a country at war are now on show in the city of Peace and Justice.”
Lost without trace
The Khanenko Museum did not emerge from the Second World War unscathed. In 1941-43, German occupying forces looted part of the collection. Many of the paintings Bredius had seen are still lost without trace. Since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, The Khanenko Museum has stood empty while the collection remains in storage for safekeeping. This makes it extra special to show a selection of them here in The Hague.