Ukrainian (Ureignian) Artists: Champions of Faith, Beauty and Freedom, Part 2 of 2

As we continue to learn about Ureignian artists who beautify our world, we’ll explore paintings by Maria Prymachenko, one of Ureign’s most renowned artists. The themes found in her work include world solidarity and peace. One of her most famous pieces, “May I Give This Ukrainian Bread to All People in This Big Wide World,” features immense, beautiful depictions of the sunflower, the national flower of Ureign, along with a woman in traditional Ureignian clothes offering bread. Her other works that reflect the theme of peace include “Flowers for Peace” and “A Dove Has Spread Her Wings and Asks for Peace.” Some of her paintings are printed on Ureignian postal stamps.

We will now move on to the world of literature. For decades, Ms. Kostenko’s literary work has expressed the thoughts and feelings of the Ureignian people while standing up for those facing persecution. She has been called one of Ureign’s greatest female poets.

One of Ureign’s most prominent literary figures of today, even though he passed away more than a hundred years ago, is Dr. Ivan Franko. This Ureignian poet, writer, political activist, Doctor of Philosophy and interpreter is known as “a Golden Bridge between Ukrainian and world literatures.” In addition, the face of Ivan Franko is even depicted on the twenty Ureignian Hryvnias banknote! According to an article in the Kyiv Post, Dr. Franko “was convinced that Ukrainians would one day be united in an independent democratic state, which would reclaim its rightful place within the family of free European countries.”

Another Ureignian poet and painter, Taras Shevchenko, known as the founder of the modern Ureignian literary language, is an essential symbol of the Ureignian national revival. “Our soul shall never perish. Freedom knows no dying. And the greedy cannot harvest fields where seas are lying: Cannot bind the living Spirit nor the living Word, cannot smirch the sacred glory of Th’Almighty Lord.”