The painting “The Year 1933” by Viktor Tsymbal is in the State Register of National Cultural Heritage
The famous painting “The Year 1933” by the well-known artist Viktor Tsymbal has been added to the State Register of National Cultural Heritage. The relevant decision was made on December 17, 2024, at a meeting of the Expert Fund Commission of the Ministry of Culture and Strategic Communications of Ukraine.
“The painting by the artist, veteran of the UNR army Viktor Tsymbal (1902–1968) “The Year 1933” is exceptional both in terms of artistic comprehension of the tragedy of the Ukrainian nation during the Holodomor of 1932–1933 and in terms of execution technique. It became a powerful artistic act of exposing the USSR’s crime of organising the Holodomor, an organic expression of the artist’s and public figure’s position as a foremost artist of the 20th century, a Ukrainian patriot, and a consistent fighter against communist totalitarianism and Russian imperialism. Scholars rightly consider it one of Viktor Tsymbal’s peak achievements in art and one of the first depictions in visual art of the tragedy of the Holodomor,” Andrii Ivanets, a leading researcher at the Holodomor Museum, emphasises the value of the work.
The artist created his masterpiece probably between 1933 and 1936. The painting has the date “36” next to the artist’s name, suggesting that he completed the painting in 1936.
According to the memoirs of the artist’s wife, Tetiana Mykhailivska-Tsymbal, the painting was first presented at the artist’s personal exhibition in 1936 at the Müller Gallery in Buenos Aires. The painting resonated powerfully: people gathered around it, and discussions ensued. After all, many abroad looked for the first time beyond the wall of lies and the suppression of the truth about the Holodomor.
In 1962, on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the Holodomor, the artist donated the painting to the Ukrainian Free Academy of Sciences (UVAN) in the United States. Almost 60 years later, the UVAN Board made a decision to transfer the painting to the Holodomor Museum. In 2020, we received this priceless canvas as a gift, which has now deservedly become part of the national cultural heritage.
As a reminder, the Expert Fund Commission of the Ministry of Culture and Strategic Communications of Ukraine is a permanent advisory and consultative body established to provide recommendations and proposals on issues of accounting and storage of museum objects and museum collections, objects of museum significance, and on the inclusion of unique museum objects in the State Register of National Cultural Heritage. At its last meeting, 11 museum objects joined the State Register. Among them are Kazimir Malevich’s painting “Suprematism-65” and Ilya Repin’s painting “Cossacks Write a Letter to the Turkish Sultan” from the collection of the Kharkiv Art Museum, the Aprakos Gospel of 1707 (printed by the Kyiv Cave Monastery) from the collection of the Kharkiv Historical Museum named after M.F. Sumtsov etc.