Met renames Degas's Russian Dancers and recognize Kuindzhi as Ukrainian artist

This was reported by journalist and art historian Oksana Semenik, who had been writing letters to the museum about the issue for a long time.

"Finally, the Metropolitan read a hundred of my letters, heard us, and Degas dancers in Ukrainian dress became not Russian dancers, as it was just a few days ago (!), but Dancers in Ukrainian Dress," she wrote on her Facebook page.

The Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine also reported that museums around the world are renaming the famous painting.

The Ministry of Culture also mentioned the Metropolitan Museum of Art and added that earlier the National Gallery of London responded to calls from Ukrainian art representatives to correct the names of Degas's paintings and renamed the painting in mid-March 2022. 

"The Getty Museum in Los Angeles did not change the name, but in the spring of 2022, after the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, in response to numerous appeals from representatives of the Ukrainian cultural community, it added an explanation to the painting," the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy said.

According to Oksana Semenik, the Metropolitan also recognized the artist Arkhyp Kuindzhi, who was born in Mariupol, as Ukrainian.

"They also removed the shameful reference that “Kuindzhi is celebrated in both Ukraine and Russia.” And finally, they added that it was Russia who destroyed the Kuindzhi Art Museum in Mariupol. Let me remind you that this piece is on permanent display and these words are read by thousands, and even tens of thousands of people," she wrote.