The Dissertation is devoted to the research of the origin and development of art collecting in Ukraine, from the point of view of social and cultural
significance of this phenomenon, which gave an understanding of the origins, preconditions of formation and features of modern art collecting practices.
Among other factors the presence of art collections is a sign of culture and development of the state. Since Ukraine became independent and chose a proEuropean vector, the rethinking of the historical past has become relevant. There is a growing attention to the cultural heritage and to the individuals who
preserved valuable artifacts for posterity. Most public art collections that preserve museum collections do carry unique evidence of history and people,
traditions and values, and the society’s cultural development features. However, until now, a comprehensive scientific understanding of the culturological
significance of the phenomenon of collecting did not exist. Apart from the research of individual collections, no voluminous scientific works have been
identified that would study the history of art collecting in the context of the development of artistic traditions and the art of thought, so valuable theoretical
works and empirical studies of certain aspects of the chosen topic were used. In the general theoretical understanding of the problems raised in this
Dissertation, the basis is the research on the history and theory of art, aesthetics, culturology and the following national scientists: V. Bitaiev, O. Bosenko, O.
Golubets, V. Danylenko, E. Dymshyts, T. Kary-Vasilyeva, O. Lagutenko, O. Petrova, M. Protas, O. Remenyaka, O. Rogotchenko, V. Sydorenko, V.
Skurativsky, O. Fedoruk, Z. Chegusova, V. Sheiko, M. Yur, as well as foreign authors: T. Adorno, J. Baudrillard, P. Bourdieu, M. Bianchi, J. Clifford, R.
Peterson, R. Kern and others. It should be noted that there is a lack of factual material related to the various historical stages of collecting. The names of collectors whose works are part of the funds have not yet been made public in many museums. The study of private collecting during the time when Ukraine was a part of the USSR is quite complicated, when a significant part of documentary sources was destroyed, and scientific research started only in the second half of the XX century.
Among the considered factual sources are inventories, documents, objects, artifacts, diaries and records of collectors, which give an idea of particularities of
life and lifestyle of the art collections’ owners. The works of famous archaeologists and ethnographers were taken into account, among which are V.
S. Alexandrovich, M. Peretz, P. M. Zholtovsky, S. Tomkovych, G. K. Lukomsky, V. K. Lukomsky, V. Matsenko and others.
An important documentary source of the post-revolutionary period is the valuable testimony of art critics, scientists, and historians who, during the
frequent changes of power in 1917–1919, saved private and museum art collections from theft and destruction.
When considering the artistic collecting of the period of the 60-90s of the XX century, the collections of D. I. Sigalov, O. D. Tulchynsky, I. S. Zilberstein,
A.V. Bleschunov, M. D. Strazhesko, I. M. Kryzhanivsky, B. B. Svieshnikov, D. M. Hnatyuk, I. Gonchar, P. F. Luniov, I. D. Bukhanchuk, Yu. L. Ivakin, I. S.
Dychenko, M. Z. Knobel and others were taken into account. Many of them actively interacted with museums, about which there is documentary evidence in
the form of exhibition catalogs and the Acceptance Certificates for storage (for further buying out).
