NESTOR KIZENKO (1926, Bizh hamlet, Khoruzhivka village, Nedrigailiv district, Sumy region – 2007, Nedrigailiv). The artist was born in a difficult historical epoch – he knew poverty, was a shepherd of sheep, had the opportunity to receive only 4 classes of education. During the war he had to be forced to work in Germany. In Tbilisi, while serving in the armed forces, he attended an art course at the Tbilisi Academy of Arts, where he received the basics of art education from Vasily Shukhayev.

In 1956 he returned to his homeland with his family. He exhibited his paintings during various folk festivals and folklore festivals.

In 2000, as a folk master, he was elected a member of the Union of Artists of Ukraine. His paintings were exhibited at the exhibition in Santa Barbara (California, USA) in 2001.

The master’s paintings are stored in museums of Ukraine and private collections in Canada, Great Britain, Ukraine, USA, Germany. In July 2012, a competition named after Nestor Kizenko was held in Nedrigailov, which was launched to perpetuate the memory of the outstanding artist and support young talents in contemporary Ukrainian art. The third president of Ukraine, Viktor Yushchenko, is a fan of the artist’s work.