Portrait of Viktor Yushchenko
A 2003 portrait of Ukraine's third president, Viktor Yushchenko, painted by acclaimed artist Ivan Marchuk, has been found after going missing during a relocation. The work is now on display at the Museum of History of the City of Kyiv as part of an exhibition celebrating Marchuk's 90th birthday. This painting is considered prophetic because it depicts Yushchenko before his poisoning, which occurred a year after its creation.
Victoria Mukha, the museum's director and a member of the Kyiv City Council, noted that
“the Yushchenko family had long wanted to find this painting. On the eve of Ivan Marchuk’s anniversary, the portrait finally turned up. It is now available for visitors to our museum.”
Created with acrylic paints, the 70x70 cm portrait was originally presented to Yushchenko at the campaign headquarters of the 'Our Ukraine' party. According to Yushchenko's wife, Kateryna, the artwork was lost during one of their moves.
Museum Creation and Copyright Issues
The portrait was commissioned by a businessman close to Yushchenko, who pledged to fund the construction of an Ivan Marchuk museum if Yushchenko won the presidential election. The planned site was on Andriyivskyi Descent, just below the Ministry of Foreign Affairs building. Ivan Marchuk, Viktor Yushchenko, and then-Kyiv Mayor Oleksandr Omelchenko laid a time capsule for the museum's construction, but the project was later abandoned. Marchuk himself recalls:
“Yushchenko, Omelchenko, and I solemnly laid a capsule for the museum’s construction. But then everything fizzled out.”
The exhibition at the Museum of History of the City of Kyiv features around two hundred of Marchuk's works, many of which are on loan from private collectors. Among the pieces is a painting that survived both the occupation and liberation of the Kyiv region. Victoria Mukha emphasized that “the exhibition includes a Marchuk painting that endured the occupation and de-occupation of the Kyiv region. It is a landscape from the artist’s early period.”
Separately, on December 18, 2025, law enforcement opened a criminal investigation following a complaint from Ivan Marchuk, who alleged that his property copyrights to his artworks had been misappropriated. A licensing agreement (No. 1) was signed on May 21, 2020, by five individuals: Ivan Marchuk, Serhiy Pavlenko, Mykhailo Synytsia, Ihor Apostol, and Tamara Strypko.
This situation highlights the critical need to protect artists' intellectual property rights. Serhiy Taruta, a former two-term member of parliament, has also appealed to state authorities to safeguard Ivan Marchuk’s artistic legacy.
The recovery of Viktor Yushchenko’s portrait and its display at the Museum of History of the City of Kyiv underscore the importance of Marchuk’s work to Ukrainian culture. At the same time, the ongoing copyright dispute raises urgent questions about improving legislation on intellectual property protection—a vital step for preserving Ukraine’s artistic heritage.
As the artistic community celebrates the recovery of Ivan Marchuk's portrait of Viktor Yushchenko, there are growing calls for the preservation of Marchuk's broader artistic legacy. Recent efforts by local deputies highlight the importance of safeguarding the works of this acclaimed artist. For more on the initiatives aimed at protecting Marchuk's contributions to Ukrainian culture, see our detailed report on the protection of Ivan Marchuk’s artistic heritage.