“She opened the doors wide to Europe”

Olena Kulchytska is indisputably one of the most prominent Ukrainian artists of the 20th century. During her lifetime her paintings were exhibited at nearly 60 shows in Ukraine and abroad: Kyiv, Lviv, Berlin, Brussels, Warsaw, Vienna, Helsinki, Cracow, Moscow, Paris, Poznan, Prague, Rome, Toronto, and Chicago. The fact that the Ukrainian artist’s 100th anniversary was marked on an international scale, according to a UNESCO resolution of 1987, is proof of her outstanding talent. This year Kulchytska’s 130th anniversary is being marked in a more modest manner on the local level. The main event to commemorate the artist was an exhibit of her works at the Andrei Sheptytsky National Museum in Lviv.

UNPARALLELED GRAPHIC WORKS

Olena Kulchytska proved herself in a variety of artistic trends. Oil paintings, watercolors, graphics, weavings, clothing designs, sketches for ceramics, carpets, and interiors, enamel, metal, and small-form sculptures are all aspects of Kulchytska’s versatile talents. While this kind of diversity could be a drawback for other artists, Kulchytska demonstrated mastery in every activity that she took up.

“Even though Kulchytska was a universal artist who proved herself in many artistic genres and trends, the strongest part of her creative work is graphics. She revived wood carving and linoleum engraving techniques. Kulchytska was an unparalleled etcher,” says Liubov Kost, the director of the Olena Kulchytska Artistic-Memorial Museum and curator of the exhibit at Lviv’s National Museum.

Through out the decades various researchers and admirers of Kulchytska’s art bestowed many epithets on her: creator of unforgettable images, master of treasures, master of Ukrainian etchings, artist-ethnographer, and people’s artist. The last description was bestowed on the artist not because she received a corresponding title (People’s Artist) in 1956, but because to a large extent her creative work was based on folk art, which was reflected in her works. In her paintings, the artist depicted Ukrainian folkways, contemporary and historical events, traditions, and legends.

The approximately 250 works displayed at the National Museum are only a fraction of what Kulchytska created during her life. The artist produced more than 4,000 graphic works alone, and nearly 8,000 items are stored at the artist’s museum.

Some of the works on display at the National Museum are oil paintings. But owing to the fact that the artist painted in oils and watercolors only in the early stages of her artistic career, there are comparatively few such works. Among the roughly 200 graphic works at the Lviv museum are works from the cycles “From the History of Princely Times” and “Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors.” The wonderful nature of the Carpathian Mountains and no less wonderful heroes and subjects taken from the Hutsul folk oral tradition are conveyed in the series of graphics entitled “Legends of Mountains and Rivers” (1936). The paintings depicting events during the First World War, which she witnessed, comprise a single group of works. Some of them picture the Ukrainian Sich Riflemen (the cycle “USS 1914-15” and “The Blood of a Rifleman”) as well the devastation and misery caused by the war (Disorder Is Approaching, At a Grave, After the War: A Birch Cross). Kulchytska also depicted the social problems of that period, particularly, the migration of the Western Ukrainian population (Overseas, 1914 etching).

SHE PAINTED BOOKS

Kulchytska is also known for her great achievements in the sphere of book illustration, examples of which were also part of the Lviv exhibit. She illustrated many books written by Ukrainian writers, both contemporary ones and those who were already considered classics of Ukrainian literature. The artist did the illustrations to Vasyl Stefanyk’s short story “The Road” (1917), and Ivan Franko’s long poems “Fox Mykyta” (1922) and “Moses” (1939).

Kulchytska also did the illustrations to Ukrainian Demonology by Volodymyr Hnatiuk and Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors by Mykhailo Kotsiubynsky. Besides creating numerous bookplates, the artist did portraits of the most outstanding Ukrainian writers, such as Hryhorii Skovoroda, Hryhorii Kvitka-Osnovianenko, Ivan Kotliarevsky, Mykhailo Kotsiubynsky, Lesia Ukrainka, Ivan Franko, and Taras Shevchenko. She did the illustrations for basic children’s books, like Bukvar (ABC Book) and Chytanka (Reader), and other children’s books.

She was also responsible for the design of the Svit dytyny (Children’s World) magazine (1919-39). This publication, whose first illustrator was Kulchytska, who devoted nearly three years to the magazine, has been revived, and a special issue of the magazine will feature her illustrations. This is arguably the best way to promote Kulchytska and familiarize children with her works. Even though she never married, much of her life was linked with children and young people, and for many years she worked as an educator.

Many portraits on display at the National Museum depict the artist and her family, and they are executed practically in all the techniques for which Kulchytska was known. The exhibit also features photographs of the artist and her family.

Corroboration of the artist’s extraordinary talent is found in her partitioned enamels (the triptych Folk Art is the most representative one), carpets (80 sketches), interior designs, and items of decorative and utility art, which were made or designed by Kulchytska.

SEE YOU AT THE MUSEUM!

The artist achieved recognition during her lifetime. Her works were admired from the very beginning of her artistic career. In 1913 she was recognized as the best graphic artist at a nationwide exhibit in Kyiv. The fact that her contemporaries were following Kulchytska’s artistic career is evidenced by a report in the newspaper Meta (June 21, 1933), which marked the 25th anniversary of her creative work. The author of the article noted that the honoree was congratulated by Ilarion Svientsitsky, the director of the National Museum, and Josyf Slipyj, the rector of the Lviv Theological Academy, who greeted her on behalf of His Holiness Metropolitan Andrei Sheptytsky. The interest of Ukrainian Catholic hierarchs in Kulchytska’s art may be partially explained by the fact that many of her works are devoted to spiritual and religious themes (The Virgin of the Golden Ear, the engravings Christ, the Vine, The Crucifix, the cycle “The Saints of the Ukrainian Church,” and others). She also depicted dozens of Western Ukrainian churches, many of which today exist only in her pictures.

The famous artist and art critic Ivan Trush also gave a positive assessment of Kulchytska’s works. Mykhailo Dragan, the renowned art historian and long-time associate of the National Museum, expressed his opinion in an article about the artist’s creative work: “Trush carved a path to Europe for our art, and Olena Kulchytska opened the doors wide.”

This year’s exhibit of Kulchytska’s artistic heritage in Lviv’s National Museum is a worthy commemoration of this prominent Ukrainian artist. According to the exhibit curator, many people were involved in marking this anniversary. The director of the National Museum, Ihor Kozhan, found sponsors who helped display the works. Although the exhibit of the artist’s best works was the main event organized to mark her 130th anniversary, it was not the only one. A divine service was celebrated on the artist’s birthday and a commemorative panakhyda took place the same day at her gravesite in Lychakiv Cemetery. Through the joint efforts of the masters of Ivan Trush College, the metal fence around the artist’s grave was restored. Along with the special issue of Svit dytyny magazine, an upcoming issue of the full-color semi-popular Art-Class magazine will be devoted to Kulchytska’s work. The final chord in marking the artist’s 130th anniversary will be the reopening of the Olena Kulchytska Art-Memorial Museum. After being closed for 10 years, the museum will soon be open to visitors in late October.

FROM The Day’s FACT FILE

Sept. 15, 1877: Born in Berezhany, Ternopil oblast, into the family of lawyer Lev Kulchytsky and Maria Stebelska;
1904: Visits an art exhibit in Venice with her sister Olha;
1903-07: Studies at the Vienna Art-Industrial School;
1908: Defends her diploma paper entitled “On the Benefits of the Science of Drawings” (Vienna); takes an art trip throughout Europe, visiting Munich, Paris, London, and cities in Switzerland;
1909: Moves to Przemysl (Peremyshl), where she teaches drawing in local educational establishments until 1938;
1911. Cruise on the Adriatic Sea;
1945-54: Teaches graphics at the Ukrainian Polygraphic Institute in Lviv;
1956: Awarded the title of People’s Artist;
March 7, 1967: Awarded the Taras Shevchenko Prize on the day before her death.