A World Created from Dreams and Pain
In the history of naive art, few names radiate such primal power as Maria Prymachenko (1909–1997). Born in the village of Bolotnia in the Polissya region, she spent her entire life in a small world yet created a universe that knew no boundaries.
A severe bout of polio in childhood confined her to her home, but this isolation opened the door to her inner creativity. What began as traditional embroidery exploded in the 1930s into a series of fantastic gouache paintings known as the “Beast Series.”
Archetypes of the Subconscious
Prymachenko’s animals are not biological studies. They are mythological creatures, archetypes that seem to stem directly from the collective unconscious of Ukrainian folklore. Lions with human faces, birds with four wings, beasts eating flowers—they are partly threatening, partly benevolent.
Pablo Picasso, seeing her works at the 1937 World Exhibition in Paris, famously said: “I bow down before the artistic miracle of this brilliant Ukrainian.”
Art as Resistance
For Femme Genesis, Prymachenko is a key figure. She embodies the creative power that generates beauty and hope out of suffering (polio, war, Chernobyl). Her later works were often warnings against nuclear war, and her famous painting “A Dove Has Spread Her Wings and Asks for Peace” became a symbol of hope.
In 2022, during the Russian invasion, the museum in Ivankiv housing her works was shelled and burned down. Yet, local villagers saved the paintings from the flames—proof that her “beasts” and her spirit are indestructible.
National Museum of Ukrainian Folk Decorative Art (Kyiv).
“Maria Prymachenko. The Fantastic World” – Album/Catalogue.
Статті про виставку в Парижі 1937 року.
Beast Series (1936-1937) / Серія “Звірі”
A Dove Has Spread Her Wings and Asks for Peace (1982) / Голуб розпростав крила і просить миру
Corncob Horse in Outer Space / Кукурудзяний кінь у космосі
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