The publication accompanies the Royal Academy's exhibition, which takes place from June 29 to October 13, 2024, and constitutes a significant study of Ukrainian art from 1900 to the mid-1930s, with loans from major museums in Ukraine, other European countries, the United States (including MoMA), and Israel. How did artistic life flourish during rebellion and conflict? Ukraine in the early 1900s witnessed untold political upheaval, yet this period was a true renaissance in Ukrainian art, literature, theater, and cinema.

"In the Eye of the Storm: Modernism in Ukraine, 1900–1930" showcases the innovative art produced in Ukraine in the early 20th century, focusing on the three main cultural centers of Kyiv, Kharkiv, and Odessa. In a complex socio-political landscape with collapsing empires, World War I, the 1917 revolutions with the subsequent Ukrainian War of Independence, and the subsequent creation of Soviet Ukraine, several trends of distinct Ukrainian art emerged.

While emigrants like Sonia Delaunay and Oleksandr Archipenko found fame outside their homeland, followers of Mykhailo Boichuk focused on Byzantine Revivalism, and the artists of Kultur Lige sought to promote the development of the modern Yiddish language. The first pioneering exhibitions in Ukraine presented the radical art of David Burliuk and Alexandra Exter, as well as the dynamic canvases of Cubo-Futurist Oleksandr Bohomazov.

In Kharkiv, Vasyl Yermilov championed the industrial art of Constructivism, while Vadym Meller, Anatol Petrytsky, Oleksandr Khvostenko-Khvostov, and Borys Kosarev revolutionized theater design. The effort to build a national identity in Ukraine resulted in a polyphony of styles and artistic developments across a full range of media—from oil paintings, drawings, and sculptures to collages, film posters, and theater designs.

Twelve internationally renowned scholars, including curators from the National Art Museum of Ukraine, bring this astonishing period of creativity in Ukraine and all the movements it encompassed to life.

Pages: 248, Year of Publication: 2025, Dimensions: 24x24cm