Kateryna Bilokur
Kateryna Vasylivna Bilokur (7 December 1900, Bohdanivka village, Poltava region — 10 June 1961, Yahotyn, Kyiv Oblast) was a Ukrainian folk painter and representative of naïve art. She received no formal artistic training: in 1922–1923 she was refused admission to the Myrhorod Ceramics Technical College, and in 1928 to the Kyiv Theatre Technical College, both times for lacking a secondary school diploma. She painted on her own, against the will of her parents. After a suicide attempt in 1934, her father finally allowed her to paint. Her first solo exhibition of eleven works opened in Poltava in 1940. In 1944 the State Museum of Ukrainian Folk Decorative Art acquired her paintings. In 1949 she joined the Union of Artists of Ukraine. In 1951 she received the Order of the Badge of Honour and the title of Honoured Art Worker of the Ukrainian SSR, and in 1956 People's Artist of the Ukrainian SSR. In 1954 three of her canvases were displayed at the International Exhibition in Paris. Her major works include 'Tsar-Kolos', 'Birch', 'Kolkhoz Field', 'Bohdanivka Apples', and numerous floral still lifes.Collection2