Ukrainian Easter Postcards of the 20th Century

Do you or your family keep a box of old postcards—perhaps still handwritten in ink? In the analogue era of paper and pen, postcards were more than just a way to send greetings from afar. They were a way to share and collect visual culture—something like an early Pinterest, offering images for every taste and mood, from religious to erotic and socio-political.

Today, we’ve put together a selection of original Easter postcards published in Ukraine and within the Ukrainian diaspora in the first half of the 20th century.

Easter Postcards by Yaroslav Pstrak

Artist and illustrator Yaroslav Pstrak (1878–1916) was born in the Kolomyia region. His postcards were published by leading Galician publishers such as Rusalka and circulated in remarkably large print runs.

Image source: Andrii Baitsar’s blog.

Easter Postcards by Sviatoslav Hordynsky

Sviatoslav Hordynsky (1906–1993) was a Ukrainian-American artist, art historian, poet, and translator from Kolomyia. Here we share his Easter postcards, published in 1930 in Lviv by Ukrainska Presa.

Image source: Ukrainian Diaspora Museum.

Easter Postcards by Osyp Kurylas

Osyp Kurylas (1870–1951), another Galician artist, was well known for his postcards—not only festive ones but also military-themed works, as he headed the Press Office of the Ukrainian Sich Riflemen Legion.

Image source: Spadok.

Easter Postcards by Olena Kulchytska

Olena Kulchytska (1877–1967), an artist from Berezhany who worked in Lviv, was active in painting, iconography, textile art, graphic design, and teaching, and also illustrated books. Her Art Nouveau–style Easter postcards are instantly recognizable, even without a signature.

Image source: Zaxid.net.

PLAST (Ukrainian Scouting) Postcards by Myron Levytsky

Myron Levytsky (1913–1993), a Lviv-born artist and student of Oleksa Novakivskyi, worked as a painter, graphic artist, and icon painter. He was also the art editor of Ivan Tyktor’s Ukrainian Publishing House in Lviv. Later, he served in the SS “Galicia” Division and the First Ukrainian Division of the Ukrainian National Army, which forced him to emigrate after World War II.

These works were created in 1947–1948 and printed by the Plast Cooperative (Ukrainian Scouting).

Image source: @dark_akademia_ua.

Ukrainian Insurgent Army Easter Postcards by Edward Kozak

Edward Kozak (1902–1992) was a Ukrainian caricaturist, humorist, artist, writer, icon painter, editor, and publisher. A Plast member and a soldier of the Ukrainian Galician Army, he later worked as an illustrator at the Ukrainian Publishing House and managed to escape Soviet occupation in 1939.

Here we share his Easter postcards, published in 1948 by the Press Bureau of the Foreign Representation of the Ukrainian liberation movement.

Image source: Andrey Sheptytsky National Museum in Lviv.

On behalf of Ukrposhta Market, we wish you a bright Easter and the triumph of good!