

ABOUT ME
My name is Myroslava Hartmond. As I bid farewell to fifteen years in the art industry, I am launching a charity sale of my expansive collection. Here is why.
I started collecting art at the age of 13, when I chose to spend my pocket money on some canvases by Roman Minin, then an unknown young artist from Kharkiv, Ukraine (pictured), during Kyiv Day – a celebration of the Ukrainian capital’s anniversary. The holiday’s main attraction has always been the eclectic arts & crafts market on the famous Andriyivskyi Uzviz, Ukraine’s answer to the Montmartre in Paris. This purchase was a pivotal experience that inspired me to see the value of art, both in my personal and professional life.
I discovered that art, especially original art, is a great source of energy. It inspires, uplifts, improves any room, and is never the same – it responds to your mood like a living thing.
Fast-forward a decade, and I’m back on Andriyivskyi Uzviz, this time running a leading art gallery as an enthusiastic Oxford graduate. I can’t say that my degrees in International Law or International Relations prepared me for this task, but they certainly informed the programme. I actively engaged with foreign embassies (including Australia, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Indonesia, Japan, Kyrgyzstan, Norway, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey) to create such memorable projects as ‘Looking for Lenin’ (a vindication of my long-held fascination with Soviet propaganda art), ‘HR Giger’s ALIENation’ celebrating the 40th anniversary of the ‘Alien’ movie, an exhibition of Australian aboriginal artworks with the National Museum of Australia, and many many others. We also showed a wide range of amazing art by both emerging and established Ukrainian artists, and some of this work can be seen in the catalogue below.
My life, like the lives of so many Ukrainians, changed dramatically in a heartbeat. Everyone with a connection to Ukraine remembers where they were on the fateful morning of 24 February 2022. The situation forced me to make some tough life-changing decisions. After eight hopeful and dynamic years in Kyiv – the city of my birth – I was fortunate to return to the UK, a country I have called my second home since early childhood. The reality of the ongoing full-scale war shifted my focus from the visual arts to the emergency response, particularly in my role as the University of Oxford’s first Sanctuary community coordinator. Looking to the future, I see a life filled with art and adventure. Yet, as the world heaves with ever greater turmoil, I want to put my university training to more direct use and to help my country at this critical time in history.
After fifteen successful and productive years as a curator, gallerist, and art consultant, I want to pass the baton to the next generation. From my first art fair in London in 2009 (aged 19) to my latest curation at Pembroke College, Oxford – an exhibition that explores the connection of leading British Modernist Paul Nash to the city – I bid farewell to my career as an arts professional.
“My life used to be full of everything.
Now if you aren’t with me I haven’t a thing in the world.”
― Ernest Hemingway, A Farewell to Arms
