According to the New York Post, the famous painting "Russian Dancers" created by French Impressionist painter and sculptor Edgar Degas in 1899 was renamed by the National Gallery of the United Kingdom more than 120 years later. It is now called "Ukrainian Dancers".
was renamed. This is a pastel painting depicting the dance troupe
This is a pastel painting depicting the dance troupe, created in 1899. This painting is one of the main collections of the National Gallery of England. The main characters of the painting are three dancers dancing in the fields, with blue and yellow ribbons and garlands tied to their heads and hands.
Edgar Degas (1834-1917) in his later years was very interested in dance performances to tour in Paris. He also painted many ballet dancers. "Russian Dancer" was written by the painter at the age of 65.
painter Edgar Degas
At present, the name of this painting on the official website of the National Gallery of the United Kingdom has been officially renamed.
When introducing the painting, the National Gallery of Britain said: "It is almost certain that these visiting dancers, and those in Degas, were Ukrainians, not Russians." The reason he gave was that the paintings were painted with yellow and blue stripes similar to the current Ukrainian flag, and the headbands and garlands worn by the dancers in the painting were particularly obvious.
*Note: The Ukrainian flag is composed of a horizontal rectangle with blue upper and yellow lower yellow. Blue represents the sky and ocean, symbolizing freedom and sovereignty; yellow represents wheat fields, symbolizing Ukraine's long agricultural history. This flag was originally the national flag of the People's Republic of Ukraine, established in 1917, and was banned from use during the Soviet era. The Soviet Union collapsed in 1991 and Ukraine re-activated the flag after it declared independence.
A spokesperson for the art gallery said: "The name of this painting has been the focus of discussion for many years and has been mentioned in academic literature. But due to the current situation, people's attention has increased in the past month, so we feel that it is the right time to update the name of the painting to better reflect the theme of the painting."
As for why the name is now changed, the art gallery allegedly raised this question a few weeks ago, and another part of the reason is that there are some "criticism" and "suggestions" voices on social media.
Ukrainian Tanya, who lives in London, called on the British National Gallery to modify the name of the painting, claiming that "Russia and Russians have been appropriating many elements of Ukrainian culture" . The National Gallery Ins account of the UK responded to Tanya that they had updated the name of the painting.
Netizens have different opinions on "famous paintings have been renamed".
Many netizens applauded the attitude of "listening to advice" by the National Gallery of the United Kingdom, "Work well, continue to work hard, and handle art works affected by 'cultural appropriation'." Some netizens also advised the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York to "copy homework"...
Many Ukrainians welcomed the name change. They felt that Ukrainians and Ukrainian culture have been classified into Russians and Russian culture for many years, and it is now necessary to give Ukrainian cultural heritage the correct name.
Many netizens also believe that it is far-fetched to change the name of just because the yellow and blue colors appear on the painting.
Some people sarcastically said: "Most of Van Gogh's paintings are also painted in yellow and blue, so are Van Gogh's paintings all Ukrainian?"
Some people commented: "This is ridiculous. Have you ever asked Degas what he meant? This is Degas' painting. Degas said that this is Russian, and this is Russian."
Edgar Degas' other paintings
The National Gallery of the United Kingdom stated that this move is to call on other cultural institutions to "reflect on" the "lazy" interpretation or wrong labels of Ukrainian art and cultural heritage.
What do you think about the rename of world famous paintings?
