Yaryna and Sofia Homeniuk

The Homeniuk sisters, Yaryna (1913–1989) and Sofia (1921–2001) were born and raised in the village of Viitivka, not far from Uman in the Cherkasy region. They survived the Holodomor and World War II, both suffering great losses. Yet their art is joyful, bright, and surreal. The sisters started off like many Ukrainian women: they painted flowers on the fireplaces and walls in their homes, and their neighbors and relatives began inviting the sisters to paint their houses as well. They did this using simple paints and brushes they made from grass. It was Kyiv-based art historian and artist Nartsis Kocherezhko, himself from Uman, who first told the sisters’ story to the world. He helped them get shows in museums and personally accumulated a sizeable collection. The works of the two artists shown in Yaryna and Sofia Homeniuk were on display in the Rodovid Gallery in 2002. Nartsis Kocherezhko wrote the foreword