Exhibited throughout the Shevchenko Museum are unique sculptural pieces. On display in the main gallery, which is dedicated to the life and legacy of Taras Shevchenko, are the head of the former bronze statue of the poet as well as his death mask. The mask was saved from the original museum in Oakville which burned to the ground in 1988 and the bronze head is what remains of an impressive monument to Taras Shevchenko erected in Oakville in 1951 and stolen by vandals for scrap metal in 2006.
The museum also owns two pieces by the prominent Ukrainian sculptor, Ivan Honchar: a bronze statue of a seated Shevchenko and a white bust of the poet. Toronto sculptor, Roger Golden, donated his seated figure, Baba (Grandmother), a tribute to early Ukrainian immigration to Canada, to the Taras Shevchenko Museum.
Collection Highlights
Bronze death mask of Taras Shevchenko (copy). A plaster cast for the mask was taken within hours of the poet's passing on March 10, 1861 by Pyotr Klodt, sculptor and personal friend of Taras Shevchenko.
To capture the uniqueness of the artifact and make it available to a wider audience, a digitization has been made. Click here to view.
