The art of Petrykivka or Petrikovka got its name from the inhabitants of the village of Petrykivka or Petrikovka located in the Dnepropetrovsk oblast of Ukraine where its women created this remarkable folk art when they painted floral and plant motives on the outside walls of their houses. This enduring art form dates back to the late 18th Century. It is considered to be the heart and soul of Ukrainian decorative folk art and is well known around the world as a collectible.
For a considerable period of time, Petrykivka paintings decorated only the outside walls of houses before they began to use it on paper, wood panels, and canvas. Mineral pigments were used for making paints. Instead of brushes they used short stocks of reed, twigs or even their fingers to apply the paint onto the primed thin layers of clay on the walls to create their decorative wall décor. Usage of three accent colors to highlight and distinguish their floral and plant patterns – red, yellow (or yellow-green), and dark blue became a visit card of Petrykivka folk artists.
The craftsmen of the village seeing the popularity and demand for this new type of art started to produce household tools, dinnerware, chests, boxes, plates, and other wall décor items for home decoration and collectibles.
The tradition of this art has been passed down from one generation to the next becoming more refined and sophisticated. In 1950 modern production studios and school were started to satisfy collectors demand.
The largest and most impressive collection of Petrykivka style ceramics, lacquer painted wooden chests, boxes, plates, porcelain vases, exquisite paper paintings and other Ukrainian folk decorative artworks from 1910 to 1990 are exhibited in a museum in the city of Dnepropetrovsk.