Flipping through the pages of the cultural history of Odesa in the 20th century, the author of the book analyses the frontier identity that developed in this peculiar city. In the first part of the book, the general processes that determined the cultural face of Odesa are analysed, in the second, portraits of prominent artists are presented - Volodymyr Zhabotynskyi, Petro Leshchenko, Mykhailo Zhuk, Boris Necherda, Boris Khersonskyi. Each of them in their own way embodied the image of the beach and sea city in its changing identity and constant charm. And if the above personalities are forgotten today, then we have a good opportunity to get to know and appreciate them more deeply, at the same time rethinking the phenomenon of Odesa in the 20th century.