People · Kyivans in history

Famous KyivansArtists and architects

Princes and saints, poets and aviators, patrons and adventurers — people who were born, lived or worked in Kyiv. Biographies, addresses and places to visit.

56 people
11 categories
12 centuries (X–XXI c.)

Artists and architects

8 people

Mykhailo VrubelPainter1856–1910One of the most original painters of the turn of the 20th century. He lived in Kyiv in 1884–1889, painting St Cyril’s Church and working on sketches for St Volodymyr’s Cathedral.
Kazymyr Malevych (Kazimir Malevich)Avant-garde artist1879–1935Kyiv-born founder of Suprematism and author of the Black Square. He studied at a Kyiv drawing school and taught at the Kyiv Art Institute in 1928–1930.
Vladyslav HorodetskyArchitect1863–1930The “Gaudí of Kyiv”: for almost 30 years he worked in the city, leaving it the House with Chimaeras, St Nicholas Church, the Karaite kenesa and the National Art Museum building.
Oleksandr MurashkoPainter1875–1919Kyiv painter, author of “Carousel” and “Girl in a Red Hat” and a co-founder of the Ukrainian Academy of Arts. He was murdered in Kyiv in June 1919.
Mykola PymonenkoGenre painter1862–1912Master of genre painting who celebrated Ukrainian village life. Born in Priorka, he spent his whole life in Kyiv, teaching at Murashko’s Drawing School and the Kyiv Polytechnic.
Oleksandra Ekster (Alexandra Exter)Avant-garde artist1882–1949One of the “Amazons of the avant-garde”, a painter and stage designer. She grew up and studied in Kyiv, and her studio on Fundukleivska Street was a hub of the city’s art life.
Oleksandr Arkhypenko (Alexander Archipenko)Sculptor1887–1964A Kyiv native who pioneered Cubist sculpture and made empty space part of the form. He studied at the Kyiv Art School until he was expelled in 1905.
Vikentiy BerettiArchitect1781–1842Italian-born architect of the Red Building of Kyiv University and the Institute for Noble Maidens. He worked in Kyiv from 1837 until his death.