(UKRAINIAN ART). (DISPLACED PERSONS). Ukrainian Formative Art in the Exhibition-Hall Regensburg.

Art Under Duress

(UKRAINIAN ART). (DISPLACED PERSONS). Ukrainian Formative Art in the Exhibition-Hall Regensburg. (Regensburg: GG. Aumüller & Sohn, 1948) [16] leaves. (172 x 137 mm.)  Original printed wrappers, upper wrapper with tipped-on black & white photographic reproduction. With nine tipped-in black & white photographic reproductions. A couple pencil notes on cover and first leaf. Wrappers and  paper a little toned, very minor foxing and thumb soiling to upper wrapper. About fine.

A scarce exhibition catalogue of art produced by Ukrainian artists living in Displaced Persons camps in postwar Germany.

In the aftermath of the Second World War, one to two million people were housed in makeshift Displaced Person (DP) camps across Western Europe. An estimated 200,000 were of Ukrainian nationality, most of whom had either been forced into labor under the Nazis, or were fleeing Soviet rule. Despite the difficult conditions of camp life, including unsanitary conditions, lack of supplies, and uncertainty about the future, artists continued to produce creative work and even staged exhibitions of their art as early as 1945.

The present exhibition held in Regensburg (the location of one of the largest Ukrainian DP camps in Europe) was staged by the Union of Ukrainian Formative Artists, a kind of umbrella organization directing the various Ukrainian artists' groups formed in DP camps and emigrant communities. The titles and photographic reproductions included here demonstrate a variety of artistic styles and themes, but all evoke a deep longing for the homeland. According to the preface to this catalogue, "The work of the Ukrainian artists is generally characterized by the endeavour to bring about a synthesis of rich tradition on the one side and of the new tendencies of the West"; however, this freedom is exclusively enjoyed by those living outside of Ukraine, where "only the so-called 'Social-Realism' is permitted to be cultivated."

OCLC finds fewer than 10 copies of this work, just four of which are in US institutions. (1046)

Further reading: Isajiw, Boshyk, and Senkus (eds.), "The Refugee Experience: Ukranian Displaced Persons after World War II."