Ukrainian artists of the 18th, 19th, 20th centuries and contemporary, their paintings

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

In painting, Ukrainian culture has consistently gone through the stages of baroque, rococo and classicism. This influence is already evident in two portraits in 1652 of the children of B. Khmelnitsky, Timofey and Rozanda. At the same time, the style of early Ukrainian painting is very diverse and unequal in terms of craftsmanship.

Ukrainian culture of the second half of the 17th and early 18th centuries

Most of the ceremonial portraits (parsun) of Cossack colonels that survived were painted by local Cossack craftsmen, who, however, were able to convey the mood and character of the depicted elders. Pavel Alepsky wrote about the realistic skill of Cossack painters in the middle of the 17th century.

Unfortunately, only a small proportion of paintings created by Ukrainian artists of the 18th century have survived to this day. In the second half of the 17th century. Schools of icon painters are already being created. The most famous examples are muralsAssumption Cathedral and the Trinity Gate Church in the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, which have a soft, pastel form of writing. Sensuality, rounded smoothness of lines set the audience in a somewhat melancholic mood, trying to maintain a cheerful worldview. At the same time, dramatic scenes, such as "The Expulsion of the Merchants from the Temple", and especially the scenes of passions, are executed with the transfer of the militant tension corresponding to the troubled era. The figures depicted in the frescoes breathed bodily and mental he alth, their movements lost all constraint and, on the whole, emphasized the loftiness of the mood.

The images created by the Kiev-Pechersk art workshop became a canon, a role model in all other parts of Ukraine.

Temple painting

A characteristic component of temple painting at that time was the so-called ktitor portrait. The founders, donors and guardians of this or that church, as well as the current church elders (heads of the parish council) were called ktitors (folk language - headman). There were a lot of such guardians in Kyiv churches during their history. In the altar part of the Assumption Church of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, before it was blown up in 1941, 85 historical figures were depicted - from the princes of Kievan Rus to Peter I (it is clear that this is far from all). The senior church hierarchs are depicted unshakably, but the closer the historical person was to that period, the more alive the portraits became, more expression and individuality were reflected in the faces.

Extraordinary pomp received in the Baroque era churchiconostases, in which the icons were arranged in four or even five rows. The most famous of the surviving Baroque iconostases of this kind are the iconostases from the churches of the Holy Spirit in Rohatyn, in Galicia (mid-17th century) and the tomb church of Hetman D. Apostol in Bolshiye Sorochintsy (first half of the 18th century). The pinnacle of easel icon painting of the 17th century. there is the Bogorodchansky (Manyavsky) iconostasis, which was completed during 1698-1705. master Iov Kondzelevich. Traditional biblical scenes are reproduced here in a new way. Live real people are depicted, full of dynamics, even dressed in local costumes.

Elements of the rococo style get into icon painting quite early, which is associated with the active use by the students of the Lavra art workshop as samples of drawings, the parents of the French rococo Watteau and Boucher, presented in student album collections. Rococo brings great lightness and gallantry to portraits, adds characteristic small details, and a fashion for the performance of female parsunas appears.

The development of classicism in art in the second half of the 17th century

In the second half of the 17th century, copper engraving developed. The development of engraving took place in close connection with the release of student theses, the needs of book printing, as well as orders for panegyrics. At the same time, among the works of the Tarasevich brothers and their later colleagues, one can find not only luxurious allegorical compositions of a secular and religious nature, but also realistic engraving sketches of landscapes, seasons andagricultural work. In 1753, Empress Elizabeth issued a decree: three Ukrainian children from the court chapel, who had lost their voice, should be sent to art science. These guys were future famous Ukrainian artists Kirill Golovachevsky, Ivan Sabluchok and Anton Losenko. Each of them made a significant contribution to the development of classic art.

Art education in Ukraine in the second half of the 19th - early 20th century

Professional artistic and creative training of Ukrainian masters in the 19th century took place at the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts and at European higher art institutions popular at that time, where the main emphasis was placed on academicism and classicism. According to the conditions of the development of aesthetics, this had the opportunity to create resistance to the artistic development of Ukraine, to create an abyss between folk and "lordly" art.

The best art paintings of Ukrainian artists of the 19th century are presented by people with an academic education, and this is primarily T. Shevchenko, and then with him Napoleon Buyalsky, Maria Raevskaya-Ivanova, Nikolai and Alexander Muravyov, Ilya Repin and others, who sought to create a national school of arts. Kyiv was the center of development of cultural and artistic life. After that, the permanent formation of art schools began. The Kyiv Drawing School became one of the first art institutions and played an important role in the development of fine arts in Ukraine. At different times I. Levitan, M. Vrubel, V. Serov, K. Kryzhitsky, S. Yaremich and others. Famous artists G. Dyadchenko, A. Murashko, S. Kostenko, I. Izhakevich, G. Svetlitsky, A. Moravov received their primary art education at the school.

The art school provided thorough training for the creation of paintings. A museum was even founded at the institution, where various sketches and drawings by Repin, Kramskoy, Shishkin, Perov, Aivazovsky, Myasoedov, Savitsky, Orlovsky, etc. “from easy to more complex”, providing an individual approach, an organic combination of special and general education, that is, focusing on the development of a comprehensive art education.

Professor P. Pavlov, the famous Russian geographer P. Semyonov-Tyan-Shansky, as well as local art collectors V. Tarnovsky and I. Tereshchenko helped organize the school of M. Murashko. M. Vrubel, I. Seleznev, V. Fabritsius, I. Kostenko and others were experienced teachers of the school at different times. education. The future well-known Ukrainian artists P. Volokidin, P. Alyoshin, M. Verbitsky, V. Zabolotnaya, V. Rykov, F. Krichevsky, K. Trofimenko, A. Shovkunenko and others were students of the Academy of Art. Art education in Ukraine in the second half of the 19th th - the beginning of the 20th century. represented by schools that wereconcentrated in Odessa, Kyiv and Kharkov.

Art of Ukraine of the late 19th - early 20th centuries

A particularly prominent place in Ukrainian art belongs to T. Shevchenko, who in 1844 graduated from the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts, was a student of Karl Bryullov himself, the author of the famous painting “The Last Day of Pompeii”. T. Shevchenko created a number of paintings from the life of the peasantry ("Gypsy fortune-teller", "Katerina", "Peasant family", etc.). The poetic and artistic heritage of T. Shevchenko had a huge impact on the development of Ukrainian culture and, in particular, fine arts. It determined its democratic orientation, which was clearly reflected in the work of graduates of the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts L. Zhemchuzhnikov and K. Trutovsky. Konstantin Trutovsky is also known for his illustrations for the works of N. Gogol, T. Shevchenko, Marko Vovchok, he also captured the biography of the Ukrainian artist T. Shevchenko.

In the future, progressive masters shared the ideas of the "Association of Traveling Art Exhibitions" created in 1870 and its leaders: I. Kramskoy, V. Surikov, I. Repin, V. Perov. Taking an example from the Russian "Wanderers", Ukrainian artists sought to use in their work a realistic artistic language that the people understand, and to show their paintings to residents of different cities. In particular, the “Society of South Russian Artists” was created in Odessa, which was actively engaged in exhibition business.

Artistic perfection and high realism are inherent in the paintings of Nikolai Pimonenko. His most famousthe works "Seeing the Recruits", "Haymaking", "Rivals", "Matchmakers". A. Murashko showed his talent in the historical genre. He is the author of the famous painting "The Funeral of Koshevoy", for the central figure of which Staritsky posed. In landscape painting, Sergei Vasilkovsky showed more talent, whose work is closely connected with the Kharkiv region. He opened Ukrainian painting to Europe, where he was honored to exhibit his paintings in the Parisian salon "out of turn". The seascapes of the marine painter I. Aivazovsky became a unique phenomenon in world art. The painting “Night over the Dnieper” by Arkhip Kuindzhi was marked by the unsurpassed effect of moonlight. Wonderful masters of landscape painting were Ukrainian artists of the 19th century: S. Svetoslavsky, K. Kostandi, V. Orlovsky, I. Pokhitonov.

Ilya Repin, who was born in Chuguev in Slobozhanshchina, constantly maintained his connection with Ukraine. Among the many works of the outstanding master, his painting “The Cossacks write a letter to the Turkish Sultan” occupies a special place. For this picture, his comrade Dmitry Ivanovich Yavornitsky, who devoted his whole life to studying the history of the Zaporizhzhya Cossacks and who was called Nestor of the Zaporizhzhya Sich, posed for the artist in the role of a kosh clerk, depicted in the center of the canvas. General Mikhail Dragomirov is depicted as ataman Ivan Sirko in the painting.

In Galicia, the soul of the national artistic life was a talented artist (landscape painter, lyricist and portraitist) Ivan Trush, Drahomanov's son-in-law. He is the author of portraits of famous figures of Ukrainian culture I. Franko, V. Stefanyk,Lysenko and others.

Thus, the entire cultural development of Ukraine took place in close connection with the progressive culture of the Russian people.

Painting in the 30s of the 20th century

In the 30s, Ukrainian artists continued to develop different areas of artistic thought. The classic of Ukrainian painting F. Krichevsky (“Winners of Wrangel”), as well as landscape painters Karp Trokhimenko (“Personnel of Dneprostroy”, “Kyiv Harbor”, “Over the Great Way”, “Morning on the Collective Farm”) and Mykola Burachek (“Apple Trees in Blossom”, “Golden Autumn”, “Clouds are approaching”, “The road to the collective farm”, “The wide Dnieper roars and groans”), which masterfully reproduced the states of nature depending on the characteristics of sunlight. Significant achievements of Ukrainian painting of this period are associated with the development of the portrait genre, represented by such artists as: Petr Volokidin ("Portrait of the Artist's Wife", "Portrait of the Singer Zoya Gaidai"), Oleksiy Shovkunenko ("Portrait of a Girl. Ninochka"), Mykola Glushchenko (" Portrait of R. Rolland”). At this time, the work of the artist Ekaterina Bilokur (1900-1961) flourished. The element of her painting is flowers, they form compositions of extraordinary beauty. The paintings “Flowers behind a wattle fence”, “Flowers on a blue background”, “Still life with spikelets and a jug” captivate with a combination of the real and the fantastic, a sense of harmony, a variety of colors, and a filigree manner of execution. With the annexation of Transcarpathia to Ukraine in 1945, the number of Ukrainian artists was replenished by Adalbert Erdeli (“Betrothed”, “Woman”), Berlogi lo Gluck (“Lumberjacks”),Fedor Manailo ("In the pasture"). The Transcarpathian art school was characterized by professional culture, color richness, creative search.

Painting of the Great Patriotic War

One of the leading themes of Ukrainian easel painting for a long time was the Great Patriotic War. Artists painted the heroism of warriors, the pathos of struggle. However, philosophical paintings were also written: “Nurse” by Askhat Safargalin, “In the Name of Life” by Alexander Khmelnitsky, “Flax Blooms” by Vasily Gurin. Many artists continued the development of Ukrainian fine arts, trying to give their own interpretation of the personality and work of the Great Kobzar: Michael of God "My thoughts, thoughts" and the like. The pride of Ukrainian culture was the work of the artist Tatyana Yablonska (1917-2005). Back in the post-war years, T. Yablonskaya created one of the best paintings of that time - “Bread”. The artist's paintings of the early period - "Spring", "Above the Dnieper", "Mother" - are made in the best academic traditions, full of movement, feeling and pictorial freedom.

Painting in the 50s of the 20th century

At the end of the 50s in Ukraine, the ideological pressure on the work of artists somewhat weakened. And although the observance of the "principle of socialist realism" remained mandatory for Soviet artists, its narrow limits expanded. In the visual arts, compared to the previous period, there is more freedom in choosing themes, means of embodying an artistic concept, identifying a nationalidentity. Many Ukrainian artists sought to move away from straightforward copying of life, they turned to symbolic images, a poetic interpretation of the former world. It is poeticization that has become one of the leading trends in various types of art. This period is characterized by the desire for national roots. Ukrainian artists of the 20th century turned to the images of prominent figures of history and culture, studied folk art and customs. Of great importance was the monumental and decorative art, in which bold experimental searches took place. Among the original ones: the Dnieper hydroelectric power station (DneproGES), 18 bright works of Ukrainian monumentalists - a stained-glass triptych at the National University. T. Shevchenko, mosaic "Academy of the 17th century" at the Institute of Theoretical Physics, interior decoration of the Palace of Children and Youth in Kyiv and the like.

Painting in the 60s of the 20th century

In the early 1960s, the artist T. Yablonskaya turned to folk art, which led to a change in her artistic style (“Indian Summer”, “Swans”, “Bride”, “Paper Flowers”, “Summer”). These paintings are characterized by a planar interpretation, plasticity and expressiveness of silhouettes, building color on the ratio of pure sonorous colors.

The work of the Transcarpathian artist Fedor Manail (1910-1978) is striking, who became one of the best European artists even in the pre-war years. At the epicenter of the artist's creative search is the nature of the Carpathians and the element of folk life: "Wedding", "Breakfast", "In the forest", "Sunny moment", "Mountains-valleys", etc. F. Manailo wasconsultant on the set of S. Parajanov's film "Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors", which, thanks to his contribution, acquired special expressiveness and ethnographic accuracy.

The Lviv art school is distinguished by the spirit of experimentation, inclination towards the European cultural tradition. If the Transcarpathian school is characterized by pictorial emotionality, then the Lviv school is characterized by a graphic manner of execution, sophistication and intellectuality. The obvious representatives of these trends of that time are the famous Ukrainian artists: Zinovy Flint (“Autumn”, “Indian Summer”, “Bach Melodies”, “Reflections”), Lubomyr Medved (the cycle “The First Collective Farms in the Lviv Region”, the triptych “Emigrants”, “Fluidity of time”, etc.). A real achievement in art was the work of these masters in the portrait genre. Portraits of cultural figures L. Medved (Lesya Ukrainka, S. Lyudkevich, N. Gogol, L. Tolstoy) attract attention with the originality of the manner of execution, the unexpectedness of the compositional construction, the depth and special sharpness of the images.

The original artist Valentin Zadorozhny (1921-1988) worked in various genres - monumental and easel painting, graphics, tapestry, woodcarving. The artist used and creatively rethought the best traditions of folk art, deeply understood the foundations of national culture: the paintings "Marusya Churai", "Ecumenical Dinner", "Chuchinsky Oranta", "Daily Bread", "And there will be a son and mother …" and others enchant with richness and contrasting juxtaposition of colors, expressiveness of lines, lightness of rhythm, decorative sound.

In the work of artist Ivan Marchukdifferent artistic trends and methods are traced (from realism to surrealism and abstractionism); genres (portraits, still lifes, landscapes and original fantasy compositions similar to dreams). Traditions and innovation intertwined in his paintings, all works have a deep spiritual basis: “Blossoming”, “Blossoming Planet”, “Lost Music”, “Germination”, “Voice of my soul”, “Last ray”, “The moon rose over the Dnieper”, “Monthly Night”, etc. Among the many works of the artist, the painting “Awakening” attracts attention, in which the face of a beautiful woman, her fragile transparent hands, appear among the herbs and flowers. This is Ukraine, which is awakening from a long heavy sleep.

Ukraine is rightfully proud of folk artists: Maria Primachenko, Praskovya Vlasenko, Elizaveta Mironova, Ivan Skolozdra, Tatiana Pato, Fyodor Pank and others. At one time, the French artist P. Picasso was amazed by the works of M. Primachenko. She created her own world in which fantastic creatures live, characters of folklore, flowers seem to be endowed with a human soul (“Wedding”, “Holiday”, “Bouquet”, “Magpies - white-sided”, “Three grandfathers”, “Wild otter grabbed a bird”, "The Threat of War" and others).

Art of the late 20th century

The end of the 20th century can be considered the time of a new countdown in the history of Ukrainian creative art. The formation of an independent state created a new cultural and creative situation in Ukraine. The principle of socialist realism has become a thing of the past, Ukrainian artistsbegan to work in conditions of freedom of creativity. Art exhibitions that took place at that time showed the high creative potential of Ukrainian fine art, its diversity, the coexistence of various directions, forms and means of expressing artistic intent in it. Ukrainian fine arts of the late 20th century. was called the "New Wave", picking up the Ukrainian avant-garde movement of the 10-20s, but continuing to develop it in new conditions.

Modern Ukrainian artists and their paintings do not fit into the framework of any one style, trend or method. Masters of the older generation prefer traditional to realistic art. Abstractionism was widely spread (Tiberiy Silvashi, Alexey Zhivotkov, Petr Malyshko, Oleg Tistol, Alexander Dubovik, Alexander Budnikov and others). And yet, the main feature of modern Ukrainian art is the combination of figurative and abstract methods of creativity (Viktor Ivanov, Vasily Khodakovsky, Oleg Yasenev, Andrey Bludov, Mykola Butkovsky, Alexey Vladimirov, etc.).

New Ukrainian Art

Modern Ukrainian art has been influenced by Western modernism. Surrealism (from French "supra-realism") is one of the main currents of the artistic avant-garde, it arose in France in the 1920s. According to the main theorist of surrealism A. Breton, his goal is to resolve the contradiction between dream and reality. Ways to achieve this goal were varied: Ukrainian artists and their paintings withscenes devoid of logic were depicted with photographic accuracy, fragments of familiar objects and strange creatures were created.

Op art (abbreviated English optical art) - a trend of abstract art, popular in the West in the 60s. Op art works are built on the effects of optical illusion, while the selection of shapes and colors is aimed at creating an optical illusion of movement.

Pop art (abbreviated English popular art) originated in the US and Britain under the influence of popular culture. The source of his images were popular comics, advertising and industrial products. The simultaneity of the plot in pop art painting is sometimes emphasized by technique, which resembles the effect of photography.

Conceptualism, conceptual art (from Latin thought, concept) - the leading direction of Western art of the 60s. According to its representatives, the idea (concept) underlying the work has a value in itself and is placed above mastery. A variety of means can be used to implement the concept: texts, maps, photographs, videos, and the like.

The work may be exhibited in a gallery or be created "on the ground", for example, a natural landscape, which sometimes becomes part of it. At the same time, the image of the artist undermines the traditional idea of the status of the authors of art. In an installation, individual elements located within a given space form a single artistic whole and are often designed for a particular gallery. Such a work cannot be transferred to another place, since the surroundingthe environment is its equal part.

Performance (from English performance) is an artistic phenomenon closely related to dance and theatrical action. The language of pop art is skillfully and often used in their works by such Ukrainian artists as Stepan Ryabchenko, Ilya Chychkan, Masha Shubina, Marina Talyutto, Ksenia Gnilitskaya, Viktor Melnychuk and others.

Ukrainian postmodernism

Assemblage is an introduction to a work of art of three-dimensional non-artistic materials and the so-called found objects - ordinary everyday objects. It comes from collage - a technique in which pieces of paper, fabric, etc. are fixed on a flat surface. The art of assemblage was born by P. Picasso at the beginning of the 20th century, among Ukrainian artists the method of assemblage was widely used by A. Archipenko, I. Yermilov, A. Baranov and others. Modern Ukrainian artists call the current creative process in Ukraine, by analogy with the West, the era of postmodernism (that is, after modernism). Postmodernism in the visual arts is reminiscent of bizarrely mixed fragments of all previous styles, directions and currents, in which it is pointless to look for at least the slightest manifestations of integrity. Ukrainian postmodernism is most often a borrowing, or even outright plagiarism, of Western models.