The collection of works of Ukrainian art covers a period of more than a century, starting from 1910-2015.
The “Bread” exhibition hall of the “Sofia Kyivska” National Reserve demonstrates the original “Heroic Landscape” exhibition, which presents landscapes, city panoramas, and architectural landmarks embodied in the paintings of famous Ukrainian artists.
Heroic is the landscape in which the grandeur of the universe is shown, nature appears majestic and inaccessible to man and not subject to anyone. The works depict high rocky mountains, powerful trees, and a calm surface of water.
French painter Nicolas Poussin (1594-1665) is considered to be the founder of the genre.
According to the curators of the exposition, it is symbolic that the opening of this exposition coincides in time with the anniversary of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine.
“Despite the peaceful plots, the works of famous Ukrainian artists today acquire a special, heroic meaning. Unique author’s techniques differ in manner, features of performance, improvisation and creative idea, and all of them are harmoniously combined in the creation of bright, dramatic, heroic pages of Ukrainian existence”, – they say in the National Reserve “Sofia Kyivska”.
Creative cycles: “Peace against the madness of war”, “Kyiv is a hero city”, “This land is ours” can be considered as consonant events of today. Take care of her” that artists have been working on for years.
In the works of Mykola Malyshko, Anatoliy Marchuk, Anatoliy Kimnatny, the endless golden field and sky, clouds, river, rare trees, and the road are depicted, symbolizing the endless diversity of Ukrainian nature, which has not yet experienced the horrors of the last war.
The Kyiv theme is extremely vividly presented at the exhibition. In the exposition, you can see the masterpieces of Gennady Polovoy, Halyna Garkavenko, Oleksiy Fishchenko, Ivan Batechko, Yuri Khymych and Yadviga Matsiyevska, who in their time wrote bright pages in the artistic annals of our city.
“In their works, the architectural monuments of St. Sophia of Kyiv, St. Cyril’s Church, and Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra appear majestic and invincible,” the curators of the exhibition believe.
The decoration of the exposition is a landscape with St. Sophia Cathedral, created by Gennady Polev in 1981.
In the picture, created in Soviet times, the author coded Christian symbols.
The exhibition also presents an original series of colored linocuts by Oleksiy Fishchenko, dedicated to panoramas of the left bank of Kyiv, created as early as 1982: “Modern Kyiv”: “Left Bank of Kyiv” (1982) and “On the Left Bank of the Dnipro” (1982).
“The artist’s works are an echo of modernity, they don’t just depict reality, but try to create an image of the city. Color chords, generalization of forms, compositional solution cause the desired response of feelings,” the curators of the exposition note.
Yaroslav Shapoval’s work “Wet Street” received a special triumphant undertone: recently, this street was given its historical name back.
The Crimean theme is vividly presented in the work of the watercolor artist, architect and teacher Valentin Feldman (1864-1928). The formation of his creative style was greatly influenced by the French Impressionists, from whom the artist adopted the transparent purity of color and subtle skill in conveying air and light.
The artist is considered a sophisticated master of watercolors. Characteristically, he did not accept purchased paints, but made his own paints, carefully testing them for resistance to light.
The exhibition “Heroic Landscape” presents his works: “Bakhchysarai” (1910), “Sunset on the Pines” (1923) and “In the Parks of the Crimea” (1926).
All of them are made with a penetrating love for nature and an extremely finely developed sense of color.
Contemplating the heroic landscapes masterfully embodied by Ukrainian artists of various styles and eras, one feels the harmonious combination of man and nature, as well as the desire of the authors to reproduce and convey to the audience the elements of national culture and its peculiarities.
This is what keeps these works always relevant, despite various historical processes.
Exhibition “Heroic Landscape”
When: during March 2023
Where: “Hlibnia” art hall, Volodymyrska Street, 24.
Work schedule: daily (except Monday) from 10:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m
The cost of tickets to the exhibition: 65 hryvnias, discount – 30 hryvnias.
Tatyana ASADCHEVA
