Keepsake Artworks

We often see cases of regrettable injustice in the world of arts, when recognition comes to an artist only after his death. To combat this injustice by promoting memory of famous local painters, the National Union of Artists’ Kherson branch has opened the “Keepsake Artworks” exhibition in its hall. Works by a whole galaxy of older generation artists have gone on display there. One room contains paintings, prints, and sketches by People’s Artists of Ukraine Viktor Balash and Anatolii Platonov, Honored Artists Valerii Mashnytsky and Feliks Kider, Honored Art Worker Heorhii Kurnakov, as well as fine works by Oleksandr Berezhny, Kostiantyn Moskovchenko, Ivan Bilokur, Mykhailo Bochkariov, Vitalii Pidhaisky and others. Their works are excellent examples of traditional and urban landscapes, seascapes, portraits, and still lifes. It so happened that many of these artists were not born in Kherson, but they spent most of their careers in the city. Thus, their paintings are infused with lyrical motifs of local nature, ranging from beautiful wetlands and quiet river harbors to wildflowers and quiet Kherson streets...

“The idea of this exhibition occurred to me a long time ago. The fact is that the generation of artists represented here included people with specialized education, true professionals, masters of the old school, who are now scarce in this city,” the exhibition’s curator, artist Viacheslav Mashnytsky told The Day. “These people lived in the Soviet era, that is, a difficult time for creative individuals. However, the value of this period for us is that true masters found their callings then in small provincial cities such as Kherson. While a few decades ago artists were not as free in their creative expression, had to fulfill state orders, so to speak, to paint portraits of Lenin, they, however, managed to create many highly artistic works which were not known until now. It is these works that we need to remember and show to people. We involved private collectors, relatives and friends of artists in compiling the exhibition’s program. We have seen a lot of interest in the exhibition, as our exhibition hall never stands empty, journalists make inquiries, and contemporary artists react to it. Our visitors are impressed with works on display, which means that such exhibitions should be held more often.”