Collection of works by the symbolist artist Mykhailo Sapozhnykov in collection of Dnipro Art Museum

The purpose of the article is to analyse and systematise the collection of paintings and drawings by the symbolist artist Mykhailo Sapozhnykov (1871–1937) in the Dnipro Art Museum, to provide a substantiated account of history of the collection, and to clarify the peculiarities of the process of its formation. The research methodology is based on the application of a systematic approach in combination of such general scientific and special methods of cognition as analytical, historical and chronological, archival heuristics, systematisation and generalisation, which made possible to thoroughly consider the problem and formulate reasoned conclusions. The scientific novelty of the article lies in a comprehensive approach to the analysis and generalisation of a number of issues related to the content and meaning of the collection of Mykhailo Sapozhnykov's artworks, as well as the role of key figures in the history of forming the collection. Conclusions. According to the results of the scientific research, the quantitative and genre-themed composition of the collection of works by Mykhailo Sapozhnykov from the collection of the Dnipro Art Museum, which, as of January 1, 2023, includes 272 items of the main fund, was established. The art pieces of the collection belong to safekeeping groups of paintings and drawings. The artworks are made in tempera and oil painting techniques, as well as original and printed graphics. According to the genre and thematic properties, respectively, the following groups of works are distinguished: symbolist paintings, realistic landscapes, portraits, and self-portraits. The artworks related to the process of creating the artist's symbolist paintings is reasonably distinguished, the composition and content of this group of works are analysed. Figures who played key roles in the history of the collection are identified: Leonid Sapozhnykov, the artist's son and the donor, Semen Shylo and Volodymyr Kulichykhin, the museum’s chief curators