On June 18, the Museum Bredius in The Hague hosted the official opening of the exhibition "Old Masters from Kyiv in The Hague. The Khanenko Museum at the Bredius Museum." The event was attended by Halyna Hryhorenko, First Deputy Minister of Culture and Strategic Communications of Ukraine.
For the first time, works from the collection of Kyiv’s Khanenko Museum and the Bredius Museum collection — portraits, still lifes, landscapes, and historical paintings — are presented in dialogue, telling the story of the shared interests of the collectors and founders of the two museums and their refined appreciation of European painting.
“The exhibition testifies not only to the beauty and vulnerability of art. It is a cultural bridge, a living testimony of the deep ties between our countries, which have a history of more than 100 years,” emphasized Halyna Hryhorenko during the opening.
She also highlighted the importance of international support for Ukrainian culture during wartime and expressed gratitude to the curator of the Bredius Museum and member of its Board of Directors, Willem Jan Hoogsteder — the initiator of this exhibition as well as the exhibition “The Hague – Kyiv. Paintings from the late 19th – early 20th centuries from the Hoogsteder and Ponomarchuk family collections,” which was held at the Khanenko Museum in 2024.
“When Russia wages war not only against our people but also against our culture — the protection and promotion of Ukrainian cultural heritage becomes especially significant. The exhibition in The Hague is a powerful gesture of support and our joint act of cultural resistance,” Hryhorenko said.
Among the honored guests at the opening were: The Hague’s Mayor Jan van Zanen; Christiane Mataisen, Deputy Director General for Culture and Media — Director of the Heritage and Arts Department at the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science; Yulia Vahanova, Director of the Bohdan and Varvara Khanenko National Museum of Arts; Andriy Kostin, Ambassador of Ukraine to the Kingdom of the Netherlands; Onno Eichelsheim, Commander of the Armed Forces of the Netherlands; and Devi van de Werd, Ambassador for Cultural Cooperation at the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The exhibition is the result of a joint initiative by the Bohdan and Varvara Khanenko National Museum of Arts, the Bredius Museum, and the Netherlands Institute for Art History.
The exhibition will run from June 21 to September 28, 2025.
