9.10-2.11.2025 The Museum of the History of Kyiv, in collaboration with the Museum of the Avant-Garde and Les Noms Galerie, presents the exhibition: “Kolya Novikov: Outcast, Rebel, Genius Artist” — an artistic project that immerses visitors in the life and work of one of the most underrated genius artists of the 20th century.

Mykola Novikov was a remarkable artist who became a legendary figure in Odesa during his lifetime. Kyiv, Kharkiv, and Odesa formed a geographic triangle that shaped the development and spread of Ukrainian avant-garde art in the first half of the 20th century. In the 1960s, during the “Thaw” period, a group of artists emerged who returned to avant-gardism, rejecting socialist realism. Among them was Kolya Novikov, a representative of the Odesa underground.

His life story is a harmonious blend of rebellion, marginality, and brilliance. His paintings are visual manifestos of inner protest, expressed through an aggressive and nervous style of painting. The exhibition “Kolya Novikov: Outcast, Rebel, Genius Artist” is a journey through the eccentric life and creative legacy of an artist whose work reflects both the dramatic struggle of an extraordinary personality with the world and the constant search for a place in a society that rejects, ignores, and surrounds with hostility.

Exhibition Curator: Mykola Petrychenko

Project Experts: Yuriy Komelkov, Yuriy Gutsu

Project Partner: Stedley Art Foundation