Contextualising the war in Ukraine

In the second instalment of our series on the contextually-linked topics of the war in Ukraine, we explore Ukrainian-born artists and how their identities may have been shaped under Russian and Soviet rule, the first Crimean war, and the roles of nurse Florence Nightingale, and photographer Roger Fenton, and how the CIA used Abstract Expressionism as a 'weapon' in the Cold War.

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Ukrainian-born Artists

Many artists born in what is now Ukraine found success in Russia, or under Russian or Soviet rule. The likes of Kazimir Malevich, Ilya Repin and David Burliuk, among others, are more often than not described as Russian before Ukrainian. Can we know how Ukrainian-born artists perceived themselves? ​ ​ ​

AKG1011665 “Christmas Eve”, undated. Nikolai Kornilievich Pimonenko ©akg-imagesAKG354099 "The Ukrainian woman", 1875. Ilya Yefimovich Repin. ©akg-images

AKG8702398 "A Tale of a Girl and a Peacock", 1916. Petro Kholodnyi. ©akg-images

Crimean War

The Crimean War, also known as the 9th Turkish-Russian War, is considered the first 'modern' war, employing weaponry and tactics that would be used in future wars, and for the emergence of modern war reporting, with the telegraph allowing the transmission of information to travel faster than ever before. Also, for the first time, photography was available to document events. The images from British photographer Roger Fenton raised awareness of the conditions endured by the soldiers there. ​

The Crimean War is where Florence Nightingale established herself as a pioneer of modern nursing. ​ She trained and managed a team of nurses that cared for sick and wounded soldiers in Constantinople.

AKG8708472 Roger Fenton, c. 1855. Creator: Roger Fenton. ©Heritage Images / Heritage Art / akg-images

AKG345343 The French General Cissé with officers and soldiers of General Bosquet’s Division. Roger Fenton, 1855. ©akg-imagesAKG5442381 Florence Nightingale ©akg-images / Science Source

How the CIA used art as a Cold War 'weapon'

The Cold War wasn't fought with bullets and the objective was not winning territory, it was a battle of ideologies with the objective of winning minds. The CIA added Abstract Expressionism to its arsenal of propaganda, believing this new artistic movement proved the creativity, and intellectual freedom of the US, and made Russian art look excessively stifled and rigid in comparison.

AKG403736 Jackson Pollock ©akg-images / ullstein bildAKG104268 "Alchemy" Jackson Pollock. ©akg-images / Cameraphoto

AKG2820743 "An Unforgettable Meeting – Russian Revolution" Vasili Efanov (Soviet Russian Socialist realist artist) ©akg-images / WHA / World History Archive

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