(1882–1937) is a prominent Ukrainian monumental artist, founder of the “Boychukism” movement and one of the key figures of the Ukrainian cultural revival of the early 20th century. His work is characterized by a synthesis of national traditions and influences of Byzantine sacred art in modern monumentalism.

Boychuk studied at the Lviv Art School, the Krakow Academy of Arts, as well as in Munich and Paris, where he founded a workshop of neo-Byzantine art. The artist worked as an icon restorer at the Lviv National Museum. He also studied ancient sacred art, copied and created original icons. In particular, “The Protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary”. In Kyiv, Boychuk worked on the restoration of frescoes in St. Sophia Cathedral and the Assumption Cathedral. Since 1924, he has been engaged in monumental propaganda, heading the first state workshops. His monumental works adorned official institutions in Kharkiv, Odessa and Kyiv. He was a member of the Association of Revolutionary Art of Ukraine, which promoted the introduction of art into everyday life, denied naturalistic realism and sought the national identity of Ukrainian art. He taught in Leningrad. The artist’s trip with his students to Germany, France and Italy became the formal basis for his arrest on charges of “espionage”.

On November 25, 1936, the NKVD arrested Mykhailo Boychuk, and on July 13, 1937, he was shot in Kyiv together with his students Ivan Padalka and Vasyl Sedlyar. On December 11, 1937, Sofia Nalepynska-Boychuk was executed. Most of the students were also killed or subjected to repressions. All of Boychuk’s frescoes were plastered over. Almost all of the artist’s works were destroyed as “ideologically harmful”. Some works were saved by the artist Yaroslava Muzyka.

M. Skop