A serene bronze statue of a young woman graces my living room, a memento of more hopeful times in Ukraine. It was made by Oleg Chernoivanov, a young artist just beginning his career. I bought it at a newly opened art gallery in Kyiv shortly after Ukraine’s independence from the Soviet Union, part of a widespread cultural blossoming in the post-Soviet era that extended from churches and religious shrines to theater, art, and literature.
In the decades since, Oleg’s bronzes have scaled up to include public monuments in Kyiv, Odesa, and other cities. His sculpture and the works of other Ukrainian artists have become casualties of the war, some destroyed by Russian missiles and artillery, and others, like Odesa’s monument to Catherine the Great of Russia, taken down because of political controversy.
