On 23 January 2019, the National Bank of Ukraine presented the Bogdan Khanenko commemorative coin in the Bohdan and Varvara Khanenko National Museum of Arts.
The presentation was attended by Kateryna Chuieva, the museum’s director general; Viktoriia Suzanska, the deputy head of the Numismatic Product and Marketing Division of the NBU’s Cash Circulation Department; Andrii Hladkov, the deputy director of the NBU Mint; and Maryna Kuts, the Kyiv artist who designed the coin.
Chuieva noted that 2019 marked two momentous dates – 170th anniversary of the birth of Bogdan Khanenko, the museum’s founder, and 100 years since the museum was declared a public institution.
“20 years ago the names of Bogdan and Varvara Khanenko, the prominent patrons of the arts, came back to the cultural landscape of Kyiv, when the Kyiv Museum of Western and Oriental Arts was renamed the Bohdan and Varvara Khanenko National Museum of Arts, which was its historical name,” said Chuieva.
“We remember only the collecting and charitable activities of the Khanenkos, often forgetting other aspects of their life. Today’s unique event, the issuing of this commemorative coin, has literarily entrenched the name of Bogdan Khanenko in the history of Ukrainian economics by reminding us of his financial and commercial activities, and the fact that this famous patron of the arts also headed the Society for Promoting Commercial Education in Kyiv.”
Suzanska said that on 17 January 2019, the date that marks the 170th anniversary of the birth of Bogdan Khanenko, a famous collector and patron of the arts, the NBU had put into circulation the eponymous 2 hryvnia coin.
“By presenting this coin, we honor a Ukrainian who made a significant contribution to the cultural heritage of his country – for over 40 years Bogdan Khanenko and his wife Varvara collected unique pieces of art from all over the world, and founded the museum that currently bears their name,” she said.
“This commemorative coin is the latest issue in the largest series of Ukrainian commemorative coins – Outstanding Personalities of Ukraine – which was launched in 1995 with the Bohdan Khmelnytsky commemorative coins, and currently consists of about 150 coins.”
Kuts said that on the coin’s obverse, in the foreground, she had depicted a portrait of Bogdan Khanenko, while placing a portrait of his wife, Varvara, in the background. The reverse features a symbolic composition of hands holding conventionalized pieces of art and antiques (pad-printed), indicating that the Khanenkos made collecting items their life’s work.