Khanenko Museum

Bohdan and Varvara Khanenko spent four decades from the 1870s buying art across Europe and left the collection and their house to the city. It is the strongest holding of non-Ukrainian art in the country: Italian, Dutch and Spanish old masters, Byzantine icons including several very early Sinai encaustic panels, and substantial Asian and Islamic collections. The mansion interiors, panelled and painted room by room, were built for the pictures and survive.

Background

Bohdan Khanenko (1849-1917) and Varvara Tereshchenko (1852-1922) met in the 1870s, later married and settled in Kyiv in the late 1880s. His will of April 1917 and her deed handing the collection to the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences in December 1918 led to the museum's founding in 1919. It occupies two late 19th-century buildings on Tereshchenkivska Street. The mansion shows European art of the 14th to 18th centuries, with ancient art on the first floor and the Sinai icons, made in the 6th and 7th centuries, in their own room since 2004. The nearby house of the Sakhnovsky relatives has held the Asian rooms since 2006. Almost 1,000 works are on permanent show, out of more than 25,000 items.

Source: Wikipedia, "Khanenko Museum"

What to look for

• The Sinai icons - encaustic panels among the oldest surviving icons anywhere.
• The old masters - Italian, Dutch and Spanish painting across the main floors.
• The Asian collections - Chinese, Japanese and Islamic holdings in their own rooms.
• The house - the Khanenkos' own interiors, built around the collection.

When to go

Year round; the museum keeps set hours and closes on Mondays and Tuesdays. Checking current opening before travelling is worthwhile. Mornings are quietest.

What to expect

Opening arrangements have changed repeatedly in recent years and parts of the collection have been off display. Labelling is limited in English. Photography is restricted.

Nearby

The National Art Museum is nearby, and Khreshchatyk is a short walk.

Key facts