UKRAINIAN PAINTING

UNIT 7. THE WORLD OF PAINTING

LESSON 70

UKRAINIAN PAINTING

Цілі: вдосконалювати навички усного мовлення й читання; розвивати культуру спілкування й мовленнєву реакцію учнів; виховувати естетичний смак і загальну культуру учнів.

Procedure

1. Warm-up

1) What kind of art is your country famous for?

2) What famous art galleries do you know in Ukraine?

2. Reading

Read the text and say if the National Art Museum of Ukraine reflects the history and culture of our country.

NATIONAL ART MUSEUM OF UKRAINE

One hundred years ago, at the beginning of the history of the National Art Museum of Ukraine, which was first called the City Museum of Antiques and Art, there was hardly any concept of Ukrainian professional art. Ukraine was always famous for its national

ethnographical applied art. The found­ers of the museum’s collections decided to prove that this opinion was wrong and defined the list of main representatives of Ukrainian fine art. These scientists have included in the list not only those who were born and worked in Ukraine, but also those national-conscious artists who lived abroad. They thought that foreigners who worked in Ukraine have enriched a national cul­ture too. These principles were the basis of their collective work.

So works of T. Shevchenko, I. Repin, V. Borovikovskiy, V. Tropinin, N. Pimonenko, M. Vrubel, N. Ge, G. Narbut, A. Murashko and V. Krichevskiy became a part of the museum’s collection. The collectors have found even some older works ranging from medieval icons to Cossacks times portraits of military and church leaders and humorous comic pictures “Cossack Mamay”. Things came to collection from different areas ranging from far western Galitsia to eastern Tchernigovshina areas. They looked for mas­terpieces of Ukrainian art in Moscow and Saint Petersburg and even wrote correspondence to Ukrainian

artists living in Europe and America.

Today there are a lot of new works of art coming to museum’s collec­tions. Among these new comings are: unique icon relief “St. George in His Lifetime” dating to the 12th century; works of the founder of international abstractionism Kazimir Malevitch, who was native Ukrainian; masterpiece of Ukrainian rococo “The Great Martyr” icon, graphics of world famous Ukrainian living in the USA, Y. Gnizdovskiy. Now there are thousands of exhibits presented in the museum’s collection.

The 1990s were the time when museum came to an international level. For the first time in the museum’s history its collections were exhibited in famous museums of Canada, France, Denmark, Croatia. The world discov­ered an advanced culture of the country with 10,000 years of history. As a result, some previously infamous artists became a part of international art elite. For example, A. Petritskiy is considered to be one of the best set designers of the 20th century, V. Yermilov is known as the most laconic constructivist of the 20s, and O. Bogomazov is ranked as one of the best futurists of Europe.

Those exhibitions also have discovered the Ukrainian side of some fa­mous Russian artists as O. Exter, A. Arkhipenko, D. Burluk.

The items from museum’s collections often become the sensations on international exhibitions. In 1997 on “The Fame of Byzantium” exhibition the 12th century icon “St. Geroge in His Lifetime” gained the steadfast at­tention of the specialists.

3. Reading and speaking

Read the paragraphs about Ukrainian artists and say what art forms they represented.

SERHII VASYLKIVSKY (Izium 1854 – Kharkiv 1917)

Vasylkivsky was one of the most prolific Ukrainian artists of the pre­revolutionary period and an expert on Ukrainian ornamentation and folk art. In 1876 he entered the St. Petersburg Academy of Fine Art. He painted Ukrain­ian landscapes a lot. He left behind almost 3,000 works of art, sketches, draw­ings, a great number of which were lost during World War II. He was the first, after Taras Shevchenko, to draw upon subject matter from Ukraine’s past and completed a number of works on historical and ethnographic themes.

MYKOLA PYMONENKO (Kiev 1862 – Kiev 1912)

Pymonenko was one of the most popular artists in Ukraine who continued the Realist tradition in Ukrainian genre painting. He studied at the school of iconography of the Kiev Monastery of the Caves, in M. Murashko’s school and in the St. Petersburg Academy of Art. Famous Realist artists like Ilya Repin and Arkhyp Kuindzhi influenced his artistic development and world view. From 1893 he participated in traveling exhibitions. His works were displayed in Munich and Paris where he was elected member of the International Union of Art and Literature (sponsored by Auguste Rodin, among others). He paint­ed the mural, Dormition of the Mother of God in the Church of St. Cyril in Kiev at the invitation of Mykhailo Vrubel and was an academician of painting from 1904. His works are often referred to as the encyclopedia of Ukrainian village life. The main theme of Pymonenko’s painting is the accurate depiction of that life. He was attracted to folk rituals. Following in the footsteps of Shevchenko, he coloured his realism with the romanticism of Ukrainian ethnography.

FEDIR KRYCHEVSKY (Lcbedyn, Sum 1879 – lrpyn’, Kiev 1947)

Krychevsky acquired the fundamentals of art at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, (1896-1901). He continued his education at the St. Petersburg Academy of Art (1907-1910). Upon gradu­ation, he received a scholarship to travel abroad and he visited Paris, Mu­nich, Vienna, Berlin and Rome. He returned to live and work in Kiev. Dur­ing the 1920’s and 1930’s he was professor at the Kharkiv and Kiev Art Institutes. He was an erudite scholar and specialist in folk art. Together with his brother, Vasyl, a distinguished architect and artist, he acquired a collection of works by peasant craftsmen (kylymy – rugs), sheepskin coats, (plakhty – wrap-around skirts) and kerchiefs. Enriched by a great body of knowledge, he developed his own system of art in which he com­bined Realist principles with a search for new methods of expression.

OLEKSANDR BOHOMAZOV (Yampil, Sumshchyna 1880 – Kiev 1930)

Bohomazov studied at the Kiev Art School with Murashko and others. He was expelled in 1905 for participating in student strikes. He contin­ued his education in Moscow in private studies. In 1914 he organized the artists’ group, Kil’tse (The Circle) which included young Ukrainian avant – garde artists. In the 1920s he became a member of ARMU (the Association of Revolutionary Art of Ukraine). From 1922 he taught at the Kiev Art Institute. Bohomazov, together with Alexander Archipenko (Oleksandr Arkhypenko) and Alexandra Exter (Oleksandra Ekstcr), was one of the founders of Ukrainian Cubo-Futurism. Initially attracted to Symbolism, he chose to seek other art forms. His new style he called Spectralism.

4. Summary

If you had to decorate your interior what kind of painting would you like to have there?

5. Homework

Search some information about Ukrainian painters and get ready to present it in the class.