VIKTOR TSYMBAL’S ARCHIVE IN THE COLLECTION OF THE MUSEUM OF THE UKRAINIAN DIASPORA

DOI 10.17721/2521-1706.2025.19.7
 
Hanna Leksina
 
аrt historian, Head of the Museum of the Ukrainian Diaspora, a branch of the Museum of the History of the City of Kyiv,
 
Kyiv, Ukraine
 
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0008-9912-7904
 

Abstract. In the history of the Ukrainian diaspora, there are many names that are widely known internationally but remain almost unknown in their homeland, Ukraine. One such figure is Viktor Tsymbal (1902?–1968), a Ukrainian émigré artist and soldier in the army of the Ukrainian People’s Republic (UPR), a representative of the second wave of emigration and the author of anti-Soviet political cartoons and advertising posters for world-famous corporations such as Coca-Cola, General Motors, and others. At the end of 2024, his archive was transferred to the collection of the Kyiv Museum of the Ukrainian Diaspora by his great-grandson, Anton Tsymbal, a soldier in the Armed Forces of Ukraine currently serving in the full-scale Russian-Ukrainian war.

This article aims to highlight the life and creative legacy of Viktor Tsymbal and to publish the first academic study of his archive, now preserved in the Kyiv Museum of the Ukrainian Diaspora. The research draws on a broad source base, including family correspondence, official documents, rare photographs, original illustrations, and materials from the artist’s personal collection, as well as émigré publications, memoirs by his wife Tetiana Mykhailivska-Tsymbal, and analytical works by scholars such as Sviatoslav Hordynsky and Bohdan Horyn.

The scientific novelty of the article lies in the comprehensive archival reconstruction of Viktor Tsymbal’s biography and artistic career based on previously inaccessible or unpublished materials. These include personal letters, documents, anti-Soviet cartoons, advertising graphics, and fine art pieces that shed new light on his activities in Ukraine, Czechoslovakia, Argentina, and the United States. The article also highlights the role of the Kyiv Museum of the Ukrainian Diaspora in preserving and promoting Ukrainian émigré heritage.

Conclusions. Despite his international acclaim, Viktor Tsymbal has remained largely unknown in Ukraine. The donation of his archive in 2024 and the opening of the exhibition «Viktor Tsymbal. Archive. Collection» at the Kyiv Museum of the Ukrainian Diaspora mark a significant step in reclaiming and popularizing his legacy. The materials now serve as a foundation for further academic study and public recognition of one of the most expressive voices of the Ukrainian diaspora in the twentieth century.

Key words: Viktor Tsymbal, Ukrainian diaspora, émigré art, archival research, anti-Soviet caricature, advertising graphics, Kyiv Museum of the Ukrainian Diaspora.

Submitted: 20.01.2025

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References:

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