“Chapters of history of Ukrainian immigration”
Representatives of the School of Paris and of the American school of modern arts are exhibited in Lviv
The exhibition contains seven paintings by Ukrainian artists known in Europe and America. “The works by Oleksa Hryschenko, Temistokl Virsta, Vasyl Krychevsky (junior), Liudmyla Morozova, Mykola Nedilko, and Petro Mahdenko were handed over to the Lviv Historical Museum at the wish of the big admirer of woks of graphic art in hallowed memory of Lidia Bodnaruk,” head of the department of history of Ukrainian diaspora Iryna Davyd-Trach told The Day. “The paintings came to Lviv from the Fund “Help for Ukraine” at the Ukrainian Canadian Social Service and represent the Parisian and American schools of modern arts.”
According to the art historian Roman Yatsiv, this exhibit is a real event. “It is important that over the past two decades Ukraine has been restoring the great potential resource of our art history that one would think to be lost or pushed aside in purpose from our mentality. Throughout the world the Ukrainian artists very significantly contributed to the general process of formal aesthetic ideas and findings that enriched the artistic process in the world. Among the authors of paintings that enriched the funds of the Lviv Historical Museum there are reputable artists who participated in prestigious exhibitions throughout the world. There is no doubt that the most important figure is Oleksa Hryschenko (1883, Krolevets, Chernihiv province – 1977, Vence, France). He is one of the most famous Ukrainian avant-gardists. Abroad he positioned himself mainly as a Ukrainian artist. He published a lot of books in which he explained his origin and world outlook. He succeeded the most in Paris in landmark galleries where Cezanne, Picasso, Chagall and many other painters hung their works. His paintings are valued a lot in the world, they appear at auctions at times and are highly priced. However, now the point is that he managed to deeply study the problem of color in painting and he remains a significant figure in all reputed art encyclopedias.
“There are also some other authors whose works of art enriched the Lviv Museum, they are also very interesting,” Yatsiv says. “Mykola Nedilko painted in the manner of post-impressionism. As well as Hryschenko, he also addressed the problem of color, but he handled it in a different way. He has a lot of fresh, absolutely unique views concerning the light, purity, space, etc. In the history of Ukrainian art Nedilko remains as a perfect colorist and landscapist… Liudmyla Morozova was a pupil of our outstanding artist Fedir Krychevsky. She was also very successful in narrative and large-format paintings in which she depicted everyday life and a lot of ethnic aspects. Temistokl Virsta (born in 1923) living in Paris since 1952 has accumulated tastes, habits, and artistic manner of Montparnasse. His works have been repeatedly exhibited in the known Parisian Chabot Gallery and galleries in Switzerland, Belgium, Denmark, Italy, Canada, the US, and even Japan. He is the author of numerous abstract paintings and his works of art show bright coloration, demonstrate high technical abilities and rich artistic palette.
“Such gifts, as the ones made to Lviv by Lidia Bodnaruk are priceless,” Professor Yatsiv emphasized. I know that there is a problem in the Ukrainian diaspora that young generations, being in an absolutely different context (in America or Canada) not always can appreciate collections or archives, do not take much care about those materials and it happens that whole archives of painters are thrown away… That is why I say a big thank you to those Ukrainians who respect and understand classics, keeping in their archives even small artists’ notebooks or separate sheets from their notebooks… Such artifacts can give a lot to present generations of Ukrainians in order to reconstruct the great experience of the Ukrainian culture in the world.
The exhibition “Chapters of history of Ukrainian immigration” is harmoniously completed by several outfits from the collection “Historical clothing of a Ukrainian woman” that arrived to Lviv from New York. The authors of the collection of historical clothing are members of the 64th department of the Ukrainian National Women’s League of America Khrystyna Voyevidka and Neonila Terashkovets who recreated Ukrainian women’s outerwear basing on the studies of archeological findings, written sources, and iconic paintings such as frescos, icons, and book miniatures.
