The Abduction of Europe 

Valentin Khrushch made this painting of the Abduction of Europe at an unknown date, using watercolor and pencil on paper. The classical myth tells of Zeus, disguised as a white bull, abducting the Phoenician princess Europa. While referencing the familiar tale, Khrushch’s image is not a literal illustration. We can ask, what does it mean to revisit this myth in the late Soviet period? Khrushch was part of a generation of artists in Ukraine who sought to revitalize their national art, outside the strictures of Soviet academic style. They looked to western and Ukrainian modernism, and to folk art, for inspiration. Khrushch’s choice of subject and his handling of paint can be understood in the context of Ukrainian cultural politics in the late twentieth century. Further research into the artist's life and work, and the archives of Ukrainian art institutions from this period, would enrich our understanding of this painting. We can see that art's meaning is always shaped by its historical moment.