Grigoriy Avksentiyevich Dovzhenko (22 April 1899 – 21 April 1980) was a Ukrainian

muralist A mural is any piece of Graphic arts, graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' ...

, Honoured Artist of USSR, member of the Union of Artists of Ukraine.

Biography

Grigoriy Avksentiyevich Dovzhenko was born on 22 April (10 April old style) 1899, in Poltavka village (now Bashtanka,

Mykolaiv Oblast Mykolaiv Oblast (, ), also referred to as Mykolaivshchyna (, ), is an administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast (province) of Ukraine. The administrative center of the oblast is the city of Mykolaiv. At the most recent estimate, the population ...

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

). In 1907 – 1913 he studied in Poltava local school (2 classes). In 1913, his family moved to Gvozdievka village in

Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...

. In 1916, Grigoriy Dovzhenko moved to

Omsk Omsk (; , ) is the administrative center and largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city of Omsk Oblast, Russia. It is situated in southwestern Siberia and has a population of over one million. Omsk is the third List of cities and tow ...

, where he was working as a porter. At the same time he passed exams without attending the higher school. In 1917 Dovzhenko began studying at the Red Arts of Siberia. At the same time, he was working as a postman and a warden at Akmolinsk veterinary department.

Profession

* 1918 – 1920 – works as an illustrator in Siberia oblast' printing agency (Omsk), performed settings for the opera "

Prince Igor ''Prince Igor'' (, ) is an opera in four acts with a prologue, written and composed by Alexander Borodin. The composer adapted the libretto from the early Russian epic '' The Lay of Igor's Host'', which recounts the campaign of the 12th-centur ...

" staged in Siberia State Opera House. * 1920 – 1921 – works as a scene painter in Siberia State Opera House, then in the fall 1921 he with his family returned to Ukraine, where he's working as a drawing teacher in Mykolaiv area department of political awareness. * 1922 – Grigoriy Dovzhenko enters Odessa Art Institute. In 1923 – 1924 he took a journey over Ukraine, making a lot of drawings,

landscape A landscape is the visible features of an area of land, its landforms, and how they integrate with natural or human-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.''New Oxford American Dictionary''. A landscape includes th ...

and

still-life A still life (: still lifes) is a work of art depicting mostly inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which are either natural (food, flowers, dead animals, plants, rocks, shells, etc.) or human-made (drinking glasses, books, ...

pictures. * 1925 – his works are presented at the exhibition of students' works at Odessa Art Institute. At this time he enters the Association of Revolutionary Art of Ukraine (ARAU), and is elected its secretary in Odessa branch. * 1926 – work on the picture "Song about Freedom". Grigoriy is elected the delegate of all-Ukrainian ARAU congress. * 1927 – work on the decoration of the Eastern Chamber of Commerce in

Odessa ODESSA is an American codename (from the German language, German: ''Organisation der ehemaligen SS-Angehörigen'', meaning: Organization of Former SS Members) coined in 1946 to cover Ratlines (World War II aftermath), Nazi underground escape-pl ...

. In May, Grigoriy Dovzhenko graduated from the Odessa Art Institute with qualification of artist-muralist. * 1928 – work on the decoration of Farmers' Sanatorium VUTSIK. Grigoriy as well is working as drawing teacher at that time. * 1930 – 1936 – Grigoriy is a teacher at Kyiv Art Institute (currently – National Art and Architecture Academy). In 1930 he also worked as an artist at Odessa movie studio. * 1941 – as the

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

began, Grigoriy Dovzhenko evacuated to

Tajikistan Tajikistan, officially the Republic of Tajikistan, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Dushanbe is the capital city, capital and most populous city. Tajikistan borders Afghanistan to the Afghanistan–Tajikistan border, south, Uzbekistan to ...

, where he worked as a teacher and the secretary of Tajikistan Union of Artists committee. He also was involved in the construction works at power plant near

Dushanbe Dushanbe is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Tajikistan. , Dushanbe had a population of 1,564,700, with this population being largely Tajiks, Tajik. Until 1929, the city was known in Russian as Dyushambe, and from 1929 to 1961 as St ...

, published a lot of antifascist drawings. * 1945 – enters Red Army, sniper school. This year Grigoriy Dovzhenko enters the Communist Party and after the WWII was over, returned to Ukraine. * 1948 – obtains inventor's certificate for fine art technique from the USSR Council of Ministers' State Committee for Inventions and Discoveries. * 1953 – 1960 – teacher at Kyiv school of arts and crafts. * 1956 – elected the delegate of the III session of

USSR The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

Union of Artists. * 1957 – elected the delegate of the session of

Union of Artists. * 18 December 1979 – awarded the title of Honoured Artist of Ukrainian SSR.

Main works

* 1920 – settings for the opera "

" staged in Siberia State Opera House. * 1923 – 1924 – various

and

pictures made during his journey over Ukraine. * 1926 – picture "Song about Freedom". * 1927 – decoration of the Eastern Chamber of Commerce in Odessa. * 1928 – sketches and decoration of Farmers' Sanatorium VUTSIK. * 1929 – decoration of the Press House named after Kotsiubynsky in Odessa. * 1930 – works as an artist at

Odessa Film Studio Odesa Film Studio (, ) was a Ukrainian, formerly Soviet, film studio in Odesa. Founded in 1919, it was one of the first studios in the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union. It is partially owned by the government and supervised by the State Pro ...

, at the movies' production: ''"Perekop"'', ''"25000"'', ''"Parents' Right"'', ''"Museum Guard".'' * 1930 – 1936 – a series of landscapes is done during journey to

Crimea Crimea ( ) is a peninsula in Eastern Europe, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, almost entirely surrounded by the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. The Isthmus of Perekop connects the peninsula to Kherson Oblast in mainland Ukrain ...

. * 1934 – picture "Cheapskate Nest". * 1936 – picture "Shevchenko in casemate". * 1940 – picture " Shchors' death". * 1947 – series of

fresco Fresco ( or frescoes) is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaster, the painting become ...

portraits ''"Ukrainian partisans"'', ''"Portrait of a girl"'', etc. * 1950 – decoration of Novo-Gorlovka Palace of Culture. * 1951 – 1954 – decoration of Summer Theatre, Palace of Culture, residential houses and facilities for the children in

Nova Kakhovka Nova Kakhovka (, ; ) is a List of cities in Ukraine, city in Kakhovka Raion, Kherson Oblast, southern Ukraine. Nova Kakhovka has been under Russian occupation of Kherson Oblast, Russian occupation since February 2022. Its estimated population ...

. * 1955 – decoration of Palace of Culture, named after I.Franko (

Donetsk Donetsk ( , ; ; ), formerly known as Aleksandrovka, Yuzivka (or Hughesovka), Stalin, and Stalino, is an industrial city in eastern Ukraine located on the Kalmius River in Donetsk Oblast, which is currently occupied by Russia as the capita ...

). * 1956 – pictures ''"Golden autumn"'', ''"Over the Dnieper"'', ''"Botanical garden"'', ''"Still-life with fish"'', ''"Flowers"'', etc. * 1957 – decoration of Palace of Culture "Kharchovyk" (Kyiv). * 1958 – 1963 – series of decorations for various buildings in

Rovno Rivne ( ; , ) is a city in western Ukraine. The city is the administrative center of Rivne Oblast (province), as well as the Rivne Raion (district) within the oblast.

Ivano-Frankivsk Ivano-Frankivsk (, ), formerly Stanyslaviv, Stanislav and Stanisławów, is a city in western Ukraine. It serves as the administrative centre of Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast as well as Ivano-Frankivsk Raion within the oblast. Ivano-Frankivsk also host ...

Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

; after trip to Baltics republics creates number of landscapes. * 1965 – monumental paintings with polymeric material application: ''"Ornamental motif"'', ''"A woman with wheat"'', ''"Cossack Mamay"'', etc. * 1970 – fresco paintings ''"Worker and Kolkhoz Woman"'', "Revolution is coming" etc. in Palace of Culture in

Chernihiv Chernihiv (, ; , ) is a city and municipality in northern Ukraine, which serves as the administrative center of Chernihiv Oblast and Chernihiv Raion within the oblast. Chernihiv's population is The city was designated as a Hero City of Ukraine ...

. Series of sketches ''" Skify"'', ''"Yaroslav' message"'', ''"Golden Gate"'', ''"

"'' etc. * 1971 – mosaic ''"

Kyi, Shchek and Khoryv Kyi, Shchek and Khoryv were three legendary brothersoften mentioned along with their sister Lybеd who, according to the ''Primary Chronicle'', founded the city of Kiev (modern Kyiv), which eventually became the capital of Kievan Rus', and is the ...

"'' in "Rovesnik" movie theatre (Kyiv). * 1972 – 1975 – decoration of the library for youth (Kyiv); fresco portraits of

Taras Shevchenko Taras Hryhorovych Shevchenko (; ; 9 March 1814 – 10 March 1861) was a Ukrainian poet, writer, artist, public and political figure, folklorist, and ethnographer. He was a fellow of the Imperial Academy of Arts and a member of the Brotherhood o ...

Lesya Ukrainka Lesya Ukrainka (, ; born Larysa Petrivna Kosach, ; – ) was one of Ukrainian literature's foremost writers, best known for her poems and plays. She was also an active political, civil, and feminist activist. Among her best-known works are ...

, I.Franko. * 1976 – 1979 – decoration of Palace of Culture in

Lozova Lozova (, ) or Lozovaya () is a city in Kharkiv Oblast, eastern Ukraine. It serves as the administrative center of Lozova Raion. Lozova hosts the administration of Lozova urban hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. Population: Lozova is th ...

Kharkiv Oblast Kharkiv Oblast (, ), also referred to as Kharkivshchyna (), is an oblast (province) in eastern Ukraine. Kharkiv borders Luhansk Oblast to the east, Donetsk Oblast to the southeast, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast to the southwest, Poltava Oblast to the w ...

'; series of portraits of Ukrainian culture activists: A. Dovzhenko, O.Soroka, M. Leontovych, G.Veryovka, V.Sosyura, etc. Grigoriy Dovzhenko had a son, Taras Dovzhenko (b. 1931), who became a Merited Architect of Ukraine (1994). Grigoriy Dovzhenko died on 21 April 1980 in Kyiv and was buried on

Baikove Cemetery Baikove Cemetery () is a historic cemetery memorial in Holosiivskyi District of Kyiv, Ukraine. It is a National Historic Monument of Ukraine and is known as a necropolis of distinguished people. History The cemetery was established in 1833 a ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dovzhenko, Grigoriy 1899 births 1980 deaths Ukrainian muralists Artists from Kyiv 20th-century Ukrainian painters 20th-century Ukrainian male artists Ukrainian male painters People from Bashtanka