The National Gallery has altered the title of Edgar Degas’ drawing Russian Dancers to Ukrainian Dancers”, prompting calls for other cultural institutions to rethink “lazy” interpretations or mislabelling of Ukrainian art and heritage.
After calls by Ukrainians on social media, the gallery said it had changed the title of the French impressionist’s turn-of-the-20th-century work, which is currently not on display. It is a pastel depicting troupes of dancers, which the artist was fascinated to see performing in Paris late in his life.
The yellow and blue of Ukraine’s national colours are noticeable in what appear to be hair ribbons worn by the dancers and in garlands they are carrying.
A spokesperson for the National Gallery said: “The title of this painting has been an ongoing point of discussion for many years and is covered in scholarly literature; however there has been increased focus on it over the past month due to the current situation so therefore we felt it was an appropriate moment to update the painting’s title to better reflect the subject of the painting.”
A few weeks ago, a member of the gallery’s education department had highlighted the issue, while a Ukrainian living in London had also used Instagram to do so.
Among those welcoming the National Gallery’s move was Mariia Kashchenko, the Ukrainian-born founder and director of Art Unit, which showcases emerging artists, including 21 Ukrainian artists at the moment.
“I understand that the term Russian art became an easy umbrella term which was useful but it’s really important now to get things right. As a Ukrainian person, in the past I would have encountered times when I was called Russian, or where Ukrainian heritage was described as Russian,” she said.
Criticism of UK cultural institutions has also come from Olesya Khromeychuk, the director of the Ukrainian Institute in London, who wrote last month in the German magazine Der Spiegel: “Every trip to a gallery or museum in London with exhibits on art or cinema from the USSR reveals deliberate or just lazy misinterpretation of the region as one endless Russia; much like the current president of the Russian Federation would like to see it.
“The curators have no problem presenting Jewish, Belarusian or Ukrainian art and artists as Russian. On a rare occasion when a Ukrainian is not presented as Russian, he or she might be presented as ‘Ukrainian-born’, as was the case with the film director, Oleksandr Dovzhenko, in one of the major exhibitions on revolutionary art in London.”
The National Gallery told the Guardian research that was continuing about paintings in its collection and information about its works was updated as and when appropriate and when new information came to light.
A National Portrait Gallery spokesperson said the gallery was closed while it underwent a major transformation, but as part of its Inspiring People project was reviewing the interpretation of every work that will be on display in time for when it reopens next year.
Referring to the action taken in relation to the Degas work, the spokesperson added: “We are also very open to receiving feedback from the public about specific works and regularly respond to comments shared by our audiences, including those made on social media.”
