In the French city of Cagnes-sur-Mer, at the Grimaldi Castle Museum, a unique retrospective exhibition of the Ukrainian painter and renowned colorist Oleksa (Alexis) Hryshchenko has opened. The exhibition has become one of the central events of the Ukrainian cultural season in France, “Journey to Ukraine.”
The Embassy of Ukraine in France announced this on Facebook.
Oleksa Hryshchenko was an outstanding representative of the Paris School, whose work combines the Ukrainian Byzantine tradition with French modernism. In 1927, he settled in Cagnes-sur-Mer, where he found inspiration in the Mediterranean light.
The exhibition was inaugurated by the city’s mayor, Louis Nègre, and Ukraine’s Ambassador to France, Vadym Omelchenko. The display brings together around 50 of Hryshchenko’s works from the collections of the National Art Museum of Ukraine (NAMU), French state museums, and private collections of Michel Lievre and Orisia Virsta.
“Hryshchenko’s legacy unites our two countries, our cultures, and our landscapes. We could not imagine the Ukrainian Season in France without his works, without your city, and without respect for your beautiful region,” Omelchenko said during the opening ceremony.
The ambassador also recalled the artist’s historical bequest: in 1962, Hryshchenko entrusted part of his works to a special fund with the condition that they be returned to Ukrainian museums once the country became independent. Today, amid the full-scale war, promoting his name has gained renewed significance.
“For Ukraine, culture has always been—and remains today—a form of resistance. Thank you for standing in solidarity and resilience with us!” the diplomat added.
The project was realized through the joint efforts of the Ukrainian Institute in France, Institut Français, the Grimaldi Castle Museum, and the Franco-Ukrainian Association in Southern France (AFUCA), under the patronage of Ukraine’s Honorary Consul in Nice, Iryna Podyryako-Burdel.
In total, the exhibition features around 60 works by the artist, as well as his palette, which he acquired upon arriving in France.
