Porcelain by Halyna Petrashevych

Ukrainian artistic porcelain as an artistic phenomenon has attracted attention of researchers from time to time throughout the 1950s–2020s and found partial coverage in Art Studies. Unfortunately, there are significant gaps in the study of the personal contribution of the artists who have worked in the system of porcelain industry or been involved in related activities. Such studies have only appeared in the last decade. Five monographs devoted to porcelain artists have been published between 2015 and 2024. Therefore, researching the biographies of artists and studying their creative heritage is important both for objectively recreating the history of Fine and Decorative Arts and for understanding the driving forces behind the artistic processes, those have influenced the development of the porcelain industry. The work of sculptor Halyna Petrashevych in porcelain reflects, to a certain extent, the main trends in porcelain figurines at Ukrainian plants during the 1930s–1950s. Literature has been studied, material from her family archive and documentation from the “Ukrainian Porcelain and Faience” is analyzed, the works in museum collections in Ukraine and private collections are revealed in order to research the sculptor’s heritage in porcelain. The first comprehensive overview of Halyna Petrashevych’s porcelain works created between 1930 and 1958 is submitted in this article in the result of conducted research and analytical work. Some works have been attributed and their dates clarified, and the prototypes for some works have been identified after the archival materials. Publications have been used to reveal the history of their creation. The analysis includes works from the sculptor’s family collection, state museum collections in Kyiv and Chornomorsk, and private collections. The considered works are made at the Horodnytsia and Baranivka Porcelain Factories, Kyiv Experimental Ceramic Art Factory, and the Keramik artel in the city of Polonne.