Canvas print - The Prophet Elijah by Mykhailo Boichuk

Mykhailo Boichuk was a Ukrainian painter, iconographer, and the founder of "Boichukism" — an artistic school and modernist movement that synthesized Byzantine traditions with modern European styles and Ukrainian folk art.

He and his fellow "Boichukists" looked to Byzantine art and the art of Kyivan Rus, viewing them as the pinnacle of artistic creativity and the foundation upon which Ukrainian art could be revitalized. Boichuk himself primarily worked in a graphic style.

In 1917, Mykhailo Boichuk became one of the founders and professors of the Ukrainian Academy of Arts in Kyiv, where he established a school of monumental art. He aimed to create a grand national art that would be accessible to everyone and integrated into everyday life — from architecture to tableware.

The Soviet regime went to great lengths to destroy the Boichukists and erase all traces of their work. In 1937, Mykhailo Boichuk, his wife Sofiia Nalepinska-Boichuk, and many of his students were executed. Numerous monumental frescoes, mosaics, paintings, and other works by the Boichukists were systematically destroyed up until 1952.

Most famous works: "The Prophet Elijah" (1911–12), "The Last Supper" (1911), and "Girl" (1910).