Avant-garde artists at the Kharkiv Art School: Vasyl Yermilov and Boris Kosarev

The article deals with the formation of avant-garde as an alternative to the academic artistic paradigm in the Kharkiv Art School. The contribution of Kharkiv artists to the world culture is determined primarily by the avant-garde art. Its agents, who steadily carried the baton of modernization of artistic culture, were V. Yermilov and B. Kosarev. During 1915–1916 a group of artists, The Union of Seven, was formed at the Art School; their work reflected the diverse palette of changes that accompanied the formation of Cubo-Futurism in Kharkiv. Fundamental changes took place in the artistic culture of Ukraine in the 1920s. The initiative to transform Kharkiv Art School into an Art Technical School with the rights of an institution of higher education in 1921, is attributed to Yermilov (it actually became an institute in 1927). In the 1920s–1930s his teaching team was joined by such artists as Mykola Burachek, Ivan Padalka, Oleksander Khvostenko-Khvostov, Anatol Petrytsky, and Borys Kosarev. Studios were established: easel painting (Mykhailo Sharonov), monumental (Lev Kramarenko), and theatrical (Oleksander Khvostenko-Khvostov). From 1922 to 1934 Yermilov led the graphics studio (together with Padalka starting in 1925). The key figures in the creation process of artistic avant-garde culture in Kharkiv after the 1930s were V. Yermilov and B. Kosarev, who influenced the formation of the next generation of artists. Yermilov’s work in Kharkiv (including teaching at Art Institute) had an impact on the creative features of O. Shcheglov, V. Platonov, V. Savenkov, and defined the horizon of effective development of design in the region. Among those who continued Yermilov’s design traditions are M. Molochynsky, І. Krivoruchko, V. Lesnyak, O. Bojchuk, V. Danilenko, O. Veklenko. Launched by the latter International Environmental Forum of Eco Poster “The 4th Block” has found quite a resonance in the world. “Yermilov’s Mansard” appeared on Kharkiv cultural space as an artistic centre and an original example of artistic design in the spirit of Bauhaus. Due to B. Kosarev a constellation of talented artists appeared in Kharkiv artistic culture and defined its uniqueness. Among his students in the theatre and decorative department there were such people as a teacher Konstantinov; a theater artist, a Doctor of Architecture, corresponding member of the AAU V. Kravetz; the Main artist of Kharkiv State Academic Ukrainian Drama Theater named after T. Shevchenko T. Medvid; theatre artists M. Kuzheliev, G. Nesterovska, P. Osnachuk, L. Pisarenko, N. Rudenko-Krayevska and others. Among the artists, whose creative work shaped under the influence of B. Kosarev, were Honoured Artist of Ukraine, member and Vice President of AAU V. Sidorenko, and Honored Artist of Ukraine, famous graphic N. Myronenko.

Creative activity of Galina Kantor-Molotova in the puppet theatre and not only

В статье раскрываются разнообразные задачи, решаемые Галиной Кантор-Молотовой в области театрального и декоративного искусства, станковой живописи и скульптуры. Достижения работающей в Кишиневе с 1972 года выпускницы Ленинградского института театра, музыки и кинематографии (1971, по специальности «театральная техника и оформление спектакля» со специализацией «художник-скульптор театра кукол») признаны в Молдавии и в других странах. Ее произведения находятся в Театральном музее имени А.А. Бахрушина и Музее Театра Образцова в Москве, в Ташкенте, в частных коллекциях России, Украины, Эстонии, Германии, Франции и других стран. Более 10 персональных выставок этого мастера было организовано в Кишиневе и Париже. Об отдельных гранях творчества художницы написано немало статей, но в целом ее путь не исследовался с достаточной полнотой. В некоторой мере этот пробел восполняет недавно изданный альбом «Galina Cantor-Molotova», презентация которого состоялась в Кишиневе в Национальном музее истории Молдовы на открытии выставки избранных произведений — кукол для детского театра, гобеленов и живописи. Однако местное издание небольшим тиражом увидят лишь немногие любители искусства. Творчество Г. Кантор-Молотовой достойно введения в широкий искусствоведческий оборот, включая не только кукол и эскизы декораций для спектаклей, но и гобелены, скульптуру, живопись. The article reveals the tasks solved by Galina Cantor-Molotova in the field of theatrical and decorative art, easel painting and sculpture. The achievements of this graduate of the Institute of Theatre, Music and Cinematography in Leningrad (1971), who has been working in Kishinev (Chisinau) since 1972, are recognized in Moldova and in other countries. There were organized more than ten personal exhibitions of this master in Kishinev and in other cities, among them being Paris. A lot of articles have been written about individual facets of the artist's work, but in general, her path in art hasn’t been studied with sufficient completeness. To some extent, this gap is filled by the recently published album “Galina Cantor-Molotova”, the presentation of which took place in Kishinev at the National Museum of History of Moldova, while opening the exhibition of her selected works — puppets for children's theatre, tapestries and paintings. However, only a few art lovers will see the local edition with a small circulation. A subtle lyricist in painting, a muralist in tapestry and sculpture, though we are talking about small forms, Galina Cantor-Molotova gives free rein to her imagination in theatrical works. Her puppets are marked by a special warmth of author's feeling, which is the result of her character, modest and benevolent, sincerely loving her main audience — children. The artist's works are worthy of introduction into a wide range of art criticism.

Identity convergence in the tapestry and painting of Ecaterina Ajder

Ecaterina Ajder, representative of the early `80s of plastic artists from the Republic of Moldova, constantly opts for endowing the work of art with innovative stylistic values. Plastic tradition and modernity originally connect in her creation, contributing to the generation of current messages through image. Preferring to materialize her thematic and plastic predilections in the genre of artistic tapestry and easel painting, Ecaterina Ajder has drawn and consolidated over the decades her unmistakable stylistic facet, in which the insurmountable landmarks of folk art have found a favorable artistic fulfillment and integration into relevant contemporary creative trends. In the artistic tapestry, the painter significantly capitalized both the aesthetic expressions obtained from the classic weaving, and from combining it with various techniques such as felt and embroidery. When referring to the easel painting she highlighted the traditional aspects of structural-constructive constitution of the image field and, at the same time, the impressive artistic expressions, obtained after practicing mixed techniques, giving priority to the collage methodology. In the artist’s creation, both the conceptualization and aesthetic interpretation of the theme, as well as the way of operating with plastic means imminently contribute to the demarcation and supplementing of the semantic area of the work with high value expressions.

Supervising graduate projects: Specifics of easel painting in multi-layer watercolor

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Painting Creation in the Context of Contemporary Art: A Brief Discussion on the Painting Art of Marlene Dumas

Easel painting shined in modern art, however, its influence faded in contemporary art. Marlene Dumas, a contemporary artist in the field of easel painting, displays a form differentiated from modern art in her paintings. Her creations break the inherent traditional image mode; her thoughts on artistic concepts are based on the study of artistic language. She holds a strong concern for the issues of social life, and demonstrates true feelings and emotions in the paintings.

Monumental Painting by Sergei Romanovich: Former and Unfulfilled

The article is devoted to an important period in the life and work of the Moscow artist Sergei Romanovich (1894–1968), one of the most interesting young artists of the Russian pictorial avant-garde of the second half of the 1910s, a student and later friend of Mikhail Larionov. From the late 1930s to the mid-1950s, Romanovich was an employee of the Workshop of Monumental Painting at the Academy of Architecture of the USSR. Together with Lev Bruni and Vladimir Favorsky, he worked on the decoration of the Red Army Theater, participated in the development of projects and interior design of theater and exhibition spaces, new public buildings in Moscow and other cities of the country. Romanovich turned to monumental art largely forced, unable to seriously engage in easel painting and exhibit his work in the 1930s. The author of the article analyzed the main works performed by Romanovich in the field of monumental art. Special attention is paid to Romanovich’s interest in painting by outstanding masters of the Renaissance and modern times, which had a certain influence on his monumental works: among the most important artists are Raphael, Michelangelo, and Delacroix. The article also reveals the connections and mutual influences between the easel work and the monumental painting of Romanovich. In his work, there was also a “counter” influence: the artist’s interest in outstanding monuments of monumental art of the past influenced his search in the field of painting. The author demonstrates this influence by referring to an analysis of several famous works by Romanovich in the late 1940s. The most important place in the artist’s heritage is occupied by religious painting. In the conditions of the USSR of the 1940s–1950s, Romanovich could not depict and fulfill his talent as a muralist in religious art.

Станковизм как канон и его преодоление в живописи Общества станковистов

This article aims to outline the range of ideas the OST members had about canonical easel painting and to show how the artists creatively interacted with these ideas in their practice. The paper is based on a selection of paradigmatic as well as little-known OST artworks and archival materials. Using formal analysis on one hand and historical analysis on the other hand, it is possible to demonstrate that the OST artists based their work on a combination of opposite technical approaches. The purpose of this research is to clarify the nature of OST art for which there was much hope in the1920s and that subsequently became the foundation for the work of the post-war artists.

The Formation of the Post-Impressionist Trend in the Creative Practice of Oleh Harahonych

The article examines the artistic experience during the period of 1980–2000. Oleh Harahonych’s individual painting style was formed at the turn of the 1960s and 1970s under the influence of a large-scale talent of the famous Ukrainian painter Yosyp Bokshay (1891–1975). O. Harahonych visited Bokshay’s Uzhhorod workshop several years in a row. Having escaped the system-defined academic education, the post-impressionist-to-be was experimenting with the new formal means of reproduction. Being primarily a landscapist, the painter began to develop new dynamic angles of the composition, involving the fragments of a high-altitude highway in presentation of his works, which ensured that his landscapes obtained a sense of modernity. Winding Carpathian roads suggested to the artist a zigzag structure of the composition, which was based on the principles of polar dynamics. In O. Harahonych’s landscapes of the mid‑1980s, the contrast of warm and cold color gradations and intensity of colors enhanced. The dominance of pure colors harmoniously combined with simple shapes that focused on an acute triangle. The renewed lyrical sense of the landscape was reproduced by the simplest artistic means which included decorative ornaments, logic of compositional accents, and clarity of silhouettes. It was realized in a series of plein‑air images of the 2000s. In search of new visual means, Oleh Harahonych’s imagination was ahead of the visual technologies of easel painting of that time. Developed in the 1980s, the author’s style visually resembles the digital presentations in Photoshop. The author’s synthesis of color and form reveals an integral connection between post-impressionism and design, which Roger Fry called “Vision and design” in his book a century ago.