Nil Khasevych’s etchings come back to Ukraine

The unique works of the most famous Ukrainian insurgents’ artist Nil Khasevych have been transferred to Rivne by US researcher Petro Sodol. These etchings have made a voyage around the world, because earlier Ukrainians risked their lives to send them across the ocean in order to show what was going on in Ukraine. More than 50 years later they came back to homeland. But the main value of these works is in the fact that they were signed by the author. Soon Nil Khasevych’s derevoryts will be available for public in Rivne Oblast Local Lore Museum.

Bey, Zot, Levko, Fisherman, 333, Old Man, and Bumblebee were his pseudonyms. Nil Khasevych was born in Kostopil raion. When he was 13, he was stuck by a train and lost his leg as a result. He made an artificial limp for himself. He graduated from the Warsaw Academy of Arts, won numerous international awards, and his graphic works were on display at almost 40 exhibits in Warsaw, Lviv, Prague, Berlin, Chicago, and other cities of the world.

Along with his creative work, he was involved in civic and political activity: he was a member of the Volyn Ukrainian Union, and later became a member of the OUN. In 1943, when the UPA troops were formed, the artist joined the underground activity.

According to one of the versions of the researchers, Khasevych’s works which made the groundwork of the collection “Graphics in UPA bunkers,” in 1951 got to delegates of the UN General Assembly and foreign diplomats, whereas the USSR was claiming that there had been no insurgent movement anymore for a long time. The artist was persecuted. He died at the age 47.

“At the moment not many works by Nil Khasevych have been preserved. He was persecuted, his etchings were destroyed. In the 1950s a small archive of Nil Khasevych’s works was found at his friend’s place in Lutsk. At the beginning of the 1990s these works were transferred to the local lore museum in Lutsk. Something is stored in private collections. Apparently these etchings come from KGB funds, which were not destroyed, but preserved probably as trophies,” says the head of the department “Research Institute of Volyn” of Rivne Oblast Local Lore Museum Ihor Marchuk. “Recently I unpacked in excitement a letter from the well-known researcher of the Ukrainian Insurgent Movement Petro Sodol from the US. He sent 21 works by Nil Khasevych to the Rivne Oblast Local Lore Museum.”

According to Ihor Marchuk, the etchings by Nil Khasevych were copied and distributed among the local population. The print run was several hundreds.

“Few of his works have been preserved till nowadays. Previously the first copies of the print run used to be numbered and signed by the author. The uniqueness of Khasevych’s works transferred from the US is in the fact that they bear his signature,” Ihor Marhcuk says, “Before the Intercession of the Theotokos we are organizing a performance dedicated to the UPA in the local lore museum, and there one will be able to see the works by the insurgent artist.”