A major selection of works from The Bohdan and Varvara Khanenko National Museum of Arts is now on view at the Christian Schad Museum in Aschaffenburg, Germany. A European Collection: Masterpieces from the Khanenko Museum Kyiv marks the most extensive presentation of Ukrainian cultural heritage in Europe since the outbreak of the war and runs until 10 February 2027.

Reuniting the Khanenko collection of European art

In June 2025, Dutch art expert Nils Büttner approached the museums of the city of Aschaffenburg with a proposal to exhibit the two travelling sections of the Khanenko collection of European art, then located in the Netherlands and Poland, in one of Aschaffenburg’s museums from spring 2026 onwards. The remaining European art holdings from the Kyiv museum were also to be transferred to Aschaffenburg, enabling this significant collection to be presented in its entirety. This initiative was met with immediate enthusiasm from both the museum staff and potential funders. As the German newspaper Politik & Kultur noted, ‘Within just a few days, a phone call became a project.’

Exhibition at the Christian Schad Museum

A European Collection presents a comprehensive overview of the Khanenko Museum’s holdings of European art. The 71 works, primarily paintings dating from the fifteenth to the eighteenth centuries, include pieces by Peter Paul Rubens, Pieter Brueghel the Younger, and Jacob Jordaens, as well as paintings from the workshops of Hieronymus Bosch and Rembrandt van Rijn.

Beyond its artistic significance, the presentation highlights the close connections between Ukraine’s cultural landscape and the broader European artistic tradition. It also makes important works of Western art accessible for research, education, and public engagement.

Previous loans across Europe

In recent years, selected works from the Khanenko Museum collection have travelled to several locations, including the Lithuanian National Museum of Art, the Royal Castle in Warsaw, the National Museum in Poznan, the Louvre and Louvre-Lens, Museum Bredius in The Hague, Museum Schnütgen in Cologne, TU Dortmund University, and Villa Liebermann Museum in Berlin. These loans have helped maintain the visibility of both the collection and the Khanenko Museum itself, while safeguarding the works from the ongoing threat of war.

The impact of war

Since the start of the war, the Khanenko Museum has remained active in Kyiv through contemporary art exhibitions, panel discussions, guided tours, and educational programs.

In the CODARTfeature published in August 2025, director general Yuliia Vaganova discusses the impact of the war on the Khanenko Museum and the organization’s ongoing efforts to preserve and share Ukraine’s cultural heritage.

Events