The Khanenko Museum plans to open a library to visitors that has been closed to the public since the 1920s. This was reported by the director of the museum, Yulia Vaganova.
"The Khanenko Museum has a wonderful library. Traditionally, this library was mostly closed, although in the 1920s it was open. And people could come and freely use it [...] We would like to show some parts of this library, make it partially public, tell the history of this library," said Vaganova.
According to the director, the library contains books from the late 19th century, all of which belonged to Varvara and Bohdan Khanenkos. The collection also includes valuable copies of books printed during Soviet times.
The Khanenko Museum (full name: National Museum of Arts named after Bohdan and Varvara Khanenko) is a leading museum of world art in Ukraine. The museum presents the most significant collections of art from Europe, Asia, and the Ancient World in Ukraine. The "heart" of the museum is the art collection of Bohdan and Varvara Khanenko, prominent Ukrainian collectors and philanthropists of the late 19th to early 20th centuries. One of the two main buildings of the museum is the Khanenko family mansion, a unique historical and architectural monument. Built in the late 19th century, this palace-house preserves a unique atmosphere of history. Its facade and interiors are decorated in the "historicism" style, incorporating artistic features of Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque, and Rococo. The second museum building, located nearby, belonged to the Sakhnovsky family, relatives of the Khanenkos, until 1919. Now, this building houses a permanent exhibition of Asian art.
In total, the Khanenko Museum's collections include more than 25,000 items, with approximately 1,000 selected artifacts on permanent display.
