On June 12, 2021, a themed photo exhibition “History of One Photo from the Architect Yakiv Pauchenko’s House” was presented in O.O.Osmerkin Art-Memorial Museum. The exhibition was dedicated to the 155th anniversary of Yakiv Pauchenko to Photography Day celebrated on July 12.
    The exhibition is based on a photo of the early 1900s from the museum collection. It portrays a young Sashko Osmerkin in the study of his uncle Yakiv Pauchenko. The photo shows an elegant décor with paintings, sculptures, and other works of art which decorated the architect’s house. Another two interesting objects attract attention – a table made in Mauritanian style and an iron lantern. Visitors can see them not only in the photo but also in the museum because they are a part of the exhibition in the main hall; visitors can also take photos near them because the complex of memorial items is a museum photo zone. This fact motivated to organize a unique exhibition of one photograph within the museum art project “The Town of Kropyvnytskyi Captured by the Camera”. The museum visitors as if get to a portal which allows them to travel to the past. The items with more than 100 years old history are present not only in the photo but they continue to exist in the present bringing us the spirit of times and that incredible artistic atmosphere present in the house, the atmosphere that inspired Yakiv Pauchenko to create future architectural landmarks of our town, the historical name of which is Yelisavethrad. His nephew Oleksandr Osmerkin grew up in that atmosphere taking interest in literature, theatre, and painting.
    The exposition of the exhibition is completed with an improvised photo album created on the basis of the themed exhibition “Life of the Artists in Photographs” from the cycle “Secrets of Museum Collection” that was displayed in the museum in 2017 on the occasion of the 125th anniversary of Oleksandr Osmerkin and photos of the monuments of architecture from Yakiv Pauchenko’s collection with his signatures. These unique samples of photo art were made by Ivan Barshchevskyi, aka patriarch of architectural photography. There is the imprint “Photographer of the Imperial Academy of Arts and the Imperial Moscow Archeological Society Ivan Barshchevskyi” on the back side. Yakiv Pauchenko purchased them when he studied at Moscow College of Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture in the 1890s. He used them when he created a project of his own house in 1899. The interiors were notable for stucco and carved décor in the leading style directions of the time. The exhibition also features a stereoscope of the German production of the 19th century with the set of stereophotocards from the series “Landscapes of European Cities”, “Interiors of Palaces”, “Paris Opera Theatre”, “Collection of Beauties”. Perhaps, Yakiv Pauchenko also had such an engineering marvel in his house.
    A well-known completist from Kropyvnytskyi Yurii Tiutiushkin came to the exhibition opening and presented different photo items of the last century to the museum. The photographic film “Svema” and “Kodak”, photo paper, envelopes of the local photo studios, a lantern with a red glass for photo printing, rubber roller for photo paper, photo cutter, as well as information books, magazines “Sovetskoie Foto” 1959, leaflets and invitations to photo exhibitions that were presented in our town in the 1980s – all these historical items will be the showpieces of the future exhibition and installation “Photo Laboratory” within the museum art project “The Town of Kropyvnytskyi Captured by the Camera”. To express appreciation for the creative cooperation, the museum director Vita Chernova presented Yurii Tiutiushkin with a branded cup with a color image of the amazing museum building, a new issue of “Antykvar” magazine, and a poster of the themed exhibition “History of One Photo from the Architect Yakiv Pauchenko’s House”.
    Everyone present – Merited Architect of Ukraine Yurii Peniaz with his wife Tetiana, Ph.D. in Art History Olena Kyrychenko, an artist Yurii Vintenko, a local history expert and journalist Fedir Shepel enjoyed exploring the exhibition, new additions to the museum collection and received the museum booklets “Yakiv Pauchenko’s Town” and “Life of an Artist in Photos” as a gift.