Our museum continues the “Cheers!” project, which was launched last year and is dedicated to artists whose works are kept in our collection.
The KhRAM collection is a unique and integral part of Ukraine’s cultural heritage. Its research, preservation and popularization is our strategically important mission, especially in times of war for our freedom and identity.
“Ivan Kyrychenko does not look for inspiration among the creatures of the living world. He is attracted by the beauty of art itself, fascinated by the perfect creations of human hands: masterpieces of antiquity and the Middle Ages, the Renaissance and modern times. He “immerses” himself in them, studies them, passes them through his heart and brain. Mixes, stylizes, quotes from the most unexpected angles. The ideas of beauty that mankind has honed over the centuries find their echo in the artist’s works, endowing them with a great attraction.” E. Mitiakina, art critic.
Ivan Kyrychenko, like prominent Renaissance artists such as Artemisia Gentileschi, Sandro Botticelli, and Merisi da Caravaggio, as well as contemporary artists such as Kharkiv-based Liubov Yakymenko, refers to biblical legends, in particular, the stories of Judith and Holofernes. According to legend, an army led by the Babylonian commander Holofernes entered Judah and laid siege to the city of Bethulia. It seemed that there was no escape, but a young wealthy Jewish widow goes with her maid to the enemy camp, charms and drinks wine with Holofernes. When he loses control while drunk, she beheads him. The demoralized enemy army retreats.
“The philosophical basis, and at the same time an active formative component of the ‘new idyll’ is often mythology. The works of Viktor and Ivan Kyrychenko are indicative of this. Ivan Kyrychenko’s works are characterized by energetic dialogues of texture and color. The original author’s technique allows him to transform classical images into eloquent detached concepts.” O. Koshuba, art historian, O. Vynnychenko, art critic.
Ivan Kyrychenko rethinks the classical plot and recreates it in his own interpretation. He unexpectedly depicts Holofernes as a centaur, and Judith not in beautiful clothes, but naked and holding a coffin. Centaurs were a popular motif in the art of ancient Greece and were depicted on a variety of objects: from ceramics, jewelry, and coins to sarcophagi, monuments, and buildings. As for the artistic means, the artist uses stylization and fills the composition with images that enhance the drama of the war. These include a destroyed building, a partial reflection of a tiger in a leap, and a distorted nude female figure.
The work was created in 1990, but it sounds so relevant and eloquent today. Unfortunately, we are well aware of the deadly consequences of modern warfare. This is by no means comparable to the way war was fought in the age of legends. Nevertheless, it is possible to defeat the enemy not only by force, but also by wit, as Judith did. The artist reproduces in his work all the drama of the situation that the woman decided to do in order to win.
The work is made in the technique of etching, which requires great skill from the author, because the drawing is applied with a special needle to a metal plate, so it does not require any corrections, then it is etched with acid, covered with paint and made a print on paper. To realize the idea, the artist uses a non-standard format – he inscribes the composition in a circle.
Ivan Kyrychenko is not only a talented graphic artist, but also a painter and enameller. His works are deeply philosophical, thought-provoking, and inspire admiration for the culture of performance, expression, and the author’s interpretation of classical subjects. He does not quote directly, but offers the viewer his original and completely unexpected vision of established images, demonstrating their hidden meanings.

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Ivan Mykolaiovych Kyrychenko (born March 16, 1960, Kyiv) is a Ukrainian graphic artist and teacher; son of the artist Mykola Kyrychenko, brother of the artist Viktor Kyrychenko.
Since 1982, he has participated in all-Ukrainian and foreign art exhibitions.
1984 – graduated from the Kyiv Art Institute, where he studied, in particular, with Valentyn Serhieiev and Andrii Chebykin.
Since 1988 – member of the National Union of Artists of Ukraine.
2002 – works in Kyiv at the National Academy of Fine Arts and Architecture; since 2007 – Associate Professor of Graphics; since 2011 – Dean of the Faculty of Fine Arts.