The artist never accepted money for her paintings; she always gifted them to friends and neighbors. Maria Prymachenko died in 1997.
After the Russian Invasion
On Sunday, 27 February 2022, the Ivankiv Historical and Local History Museum in the town of Ivankiv, north of Kyiv, which housed the collection of Prymachenko, has been bombarded by the Russian troops who invaded Ukraine on February 24th, 2022. The local sources said that the building was burnt to the ground. Luckily, according to the great-granddaughter of the artist Anastasiia Prymachenko, some of the 25 works of art created by the artist that had been stored in the museum were saved by a local man who ran into the burning building.
The National Museum of Ukrainian Folk Decorative Art in Kyiv hosts another large collection, consisting of around 650 pieces of artists’ works. We hope that the Russians won’t get there.
On 28 February, ICOM-US issued a statement condemning the destruction of the museum, which “illuminates a tangible and irreversible impact of this immoral and unprovoked war”.
In March 2022, Ukraine’s culture minister called UNESCO to revoke Russia’s membership but the plea was unsuccessful.
Russian forces burn #museum with paintings of Maria Prymachenko.
A history museum in Ivankiv town, Kyiv Oblast, was destroyed by a Russian attack, according to Ustyna Stefanchuk, an art collector. The museum had about 25 works by famous Ukrainian artist Prymachenkoю pic.twitter.com/sVJD8Eru6h
— Shah Basit (@journoShahBasit) February 28, 2022