The Art of Leon Hushcha

Beautiful women, lyrical birds, sleek horses and the art of Picasso, Matisse and other master colorists have inspired the paintings of Leon Hushcha for more than 40 years. The Minneapolis-based artist's Ukrainian heritage is less familiar, as is his childhood as an immigrant to the U.S. after World War II. That background will be spotlighted in a five-day pop-up show opening next Wednesday, paired with paintings by the late Olexa Bulavitsky (1916-2001), another Ukrainian immigrant to Minnesota. A full retrospective of Bulavitsky's skillful Impressionist landscapes and village scenes is on view through Sunday; an edited selection of his pictures will remain next week as a counterpoint to Hushcha's more modernist paintings. (Both shows end July 10, $9 adults. Museum of Russian Art, 5500 Stevens Av. S., Mpls. 612-821-9045 or tmora.org).

Mary Abbe