Jacques Hnizdovsky (1915 – 1985, born Yakiv Yakovych Hnizdovsky) was a Ukrainian-born American painter, printmaker, graphic designer, illustrator and sculptor.

Biography

Jacques Hnizdovsky was born on January 27, 1915, in Ukraine in what is now

Chortkiv Raion Chortkiv Raion () is a raion in Ternopil Oblast in western Ukraine. Its capital (political), administrative center is the city of Chortkiv. It has a population of History In the Second Polish Republic, the area belonged to the County of Kopczync ...

Ternopil Oblast Ternopil Oblast (), also referred to as Ternopilshchyna () or Ternopillia (), is an Oblasts of Ukraine, oblast (province) of Ukraine. Its Capital (political), administrative center is Ternopil, through which flows the Seret (river), Seret, a tribu ...

in a priestly family of noble origin bearing the

Korab coat of arms Korab is a Polish coat of arms. It was used by many ''szlachta'' (noble) families under the Kingdom of Poland and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. History * Motto of the Korab coat of arms: "''Deo Gloria''" ("Glory to God"). * First Menti ...

. He was the youngest of seven children and the only member of his family that was able to emigrate to the west. He began his fine arts studies at the

Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw () is a public university of visual arts and applied arts located in the Polish capital. The academy traces its history back to the Department of Arts founded at the Warsaw University in the Duchy of Warsaw in 18 ...

. Germany's invasion of Poland and bombardment of Warsaw forced Jacques to flee Warsaw and continue his studies at the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb. He was classically trained and had a great interest in portraiture, but Hnizdovsky was entirely self-taught in the art of printmaking. Hnizdovsky created hundreds of paintings, pen and ink drawings and watercolors, as well as over 377 woodcuts, etchings and linocuts after his move to the United States in 1949. He was greatly inspired by

woodblock printing in Japan Woodblock printing in Japan (, ''mokuhanga'') is a technique best known for its use in the ''ukiyo-e'' artistic genre of single sheets, but it was also used for printing books in the same period. Invented in China during the Tang dynasty, woodblo ...

as well as the woodcuts of

Albrecht Dürer Albrecht Dürer ( , ;; 21 May 1471 – 6 April 1528),Müller, Peter O. (1993) ''Substantiv-Derivation in Den Schriften Albrecht Dürers'', Walter de Gruyter. . sometimes spelled in English as Durer or Duerer, was a German painter, Old master prin ...

. Influences on his early works can be seen on his website. Hnizdovsky printed all his woodcuts and linocuts himself at his home studio. Woodcuts and linocuts were printed on

washi is traditional Japanese paper processed by hand using fibers from the inner bark of the gampi tree, the mitsumata shrub (''Edgeworthia chrysantha''), or the paper mulberry (''kōzo'') bush. ''Washi'' is generally tougher than ordinary ...

, which is erroneously translated as "rice paper" Hnizdovsky's prints frequently depict flora and fauna, and there are several reasons for him largely shifting his focus from the human form. His first few years in the United States were marred by financial difficulties, language difficulties and a creative crisis. But what at first were merely substitutes for the human form. later became his most cherished subjects. He was well known in all the botanical and zoological gardens in New York, where he would find subjects willing to pose at no cost. At the

Bronx Zoo The Bronx Zoo (also historically the Bronx Zoological Park and the Bronx Zoological Gardens) is a zoo within Bronx Park in the Bronx, New York City. It is one of the largest zoos in the United States by area and the largest Metropolis, metropol ...

, he found many models that were willing to pose "for peanuts". Andy, the orangutan, who opened the Ape House of the Bronx Zoo when he was just a baby, was one of Hnizdovsky's favorite models. When Andy died, the Bronx Zoo immediately purchased the Hnizdovsky woodcut in remembrance of Andy. Another favorite Bronx Zoo model was the sheep. Hnizdovsky's ''The Sheep'' would become his best known print, illustrating the poster for his very successful exhibition at the Lumley Cazalet Gallery in London. This poster, incidentally, can be seen in the kitchen scene of the film '' The Hours''. Hnizdovsky has exhibited widely and his works are in the permanent collections of many museums worldwide. The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston has a large collection of his prints, as does the

University of Mount Olive The University of Mount Olive (UMO or Mount Olive) is a private university in Mount Olive, North Carolina, United States. Chartered in 1951, the university is sponsored by the Original Free Will Baptist Convention and Higher education accreditati ...

in North Carolina, which presumably has the largest collection of Hnizdovsky prints worldwide. Hnizdovsky designed numerous book covers and illustrated many books. He also designed several postage stamps and a

souvenir sheet A souvenir sheet or miniature sheet is a postage stamp or a small group of postage stamps still attached to the sheet on which they were printed. They may be either regular issues that just happen to be printed in small groups (typical of many ea ...

for the Ukrainian

Plast The Plast National Scout Organization of Ukraine (), commonly called Ukrainian Plast or simply , is the largest Scouting organization in Ukraine. History First Era: 1911–1920 Plast was founded in Lviv (Lwów, Lemberg), Austro-Hungarian Ga ...

postal service (issued in 1954 and 1961). Jacques Hnizdovsky died on November 8, 1985, in Bronxville, New York, and is buried at the

Lychakivskiy Cemetery Lychakiv Cemetery (; ), officially State History and Culture Museum-Reserve "Lychakiv Cemetery" (), is a historic cemetery in Lviv, Ukraine. History Since its creation in 1787 as Łyczakowski Cemetery, it has been the main necropolis of the c ...

Lviv Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...

, Ukraine. His archives are housed at the Slavic and Baltic Division of the

New York Public Library The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second-largest public library in the United States behind the Library of Congress a ...

Books illustrating the work of Hnizdovsky

* Tahir, Abe M. Jr (1987). Jacques Hnizdovsky Woodcuts and Etchings. Pelican Publishing Co. . : Shows all prints created during the artist's lifetime, a

catalogue raisonné A (or critical catalogue) is an annotated listing of the works of an artist or group of artists and can contain all works or a selection of works categorised by different parameters such as medium or period. A ''catalogue raisonné'' is normal ...

, profusely illustrated with images. * Tahir, Abe M. Jr (1975). ''Hnizdovsky Woodcuts 1944-1975, a Catalogue Raissonné''. Pelican Publishing Co.. , , . : Shows prints created between 1944-1975, a

, profusely illustrated with images. * Hnizdovsky, Jacques (1986). ''Jacques Hnizdovsky Ex Libris''. S. Hnizdovsky. ASIN B0007BYZ94 : Shows 54 Ex Libris designs that the artist created for family, collectors, museums and libraries.

Publications

A partial list of books illustrated by Jacques Hnizdovsky. *The Poems of John Keats, 1964 *Ukrainian Folk Tales, 1964 *The Auk, the Dodo, and the Oryx, 1967 *The Poems of Samuel Taylor Coleridge, 1967 *Tree Trails of Central Park, 1971 *Flora Exotica, 1972 *The Poems of Thomas Hardy, 1979 *The Traveler's Tree, 1980 *The Poetry of Robert Frost, 1981 *Signum Et Verbum, 1981 *A Green Place, 1982 *The Violin of Monsieur Ingres, 1983 *Jacques Hnizdovsky Ex Libris, 1986 *Birds and Beasts, 1990 *Behind the King's Kitchen, 1992 *The Girl in Glass, 2002 *The Adventurous Gardener, 2005

Public collections

Among the public collections holding works by Jacques Hnizdovsky are:

Awards

* Associated American Artists, 1959, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1970, 1972, 1974, 1975, 1979, 1982, 1983 * Ben and Beatrice Goldstein Foundation, 1973 * Boston Museum of Fine Arts, 1961 * Boston Printmakers, 1962 * Davison Art Center, Wesleyan University, 1969 * Henry Ward Ranger Award, National Academy of Design, 1963 * International Graphic Arts Society, 1964, 1969, 1970 * MacDowell Colony Fellowship, 1963, 1971, 1976 * Minneapolis Institute of Art, 1950 * Ossabaw Foundation, 1980 * Salmagundi Club Award, Audubon Artists Annual, 1975, 1982 * Tiffany Foundation Fellowship, 1961 * Virginia Center for the Creative Arts Fellowship, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984 * Yaddo Fellowship, 1978, 1979 In November 2022, as part of a derussification campaign,

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, ...

Magnitogorsk Magnitogorsk ( rus, Магнитого́рск, p=məɡnʲɪtɐˈɡorsk, ) is an industrial city in Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia, on the eastern side of the extreme southern extent of the Ural Mountains by the Ural River. Its population is curre ...

Street was renamed to Jacques Hnizdovsky Street.

One-Man Shows

''Jacques Hnizdovsky Яків Гніздовський'' published by the Ukrainian Museum on the occasion of the exhibition Jacques Hnizdovsky 1915-1985, Retrospective Exhibition December 10, 1995 - March 3, 1996 * Associated American Artists, New York NY, 1971, 1979, 1986 * Bronx Museum of the Arts, Bronx NY, 1971, 1981 * Burnaby Art Gallery, Vancouver BC, 1985 * Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown OH, 1962 * Chapman Gallery, Canberra, Australia. 1982 * Chrysler Museum at Norfolk VA, 1967, 1968 * Creuze Gallery, Paris, 1957 * Davison Art Center, Wesleyan University, Middletown CT 1970 * Eggleston Gallery, New York NY 1954, 1958 * Emilie Walter Galleries, Vancouver BC, 1973 * Hermitage Museum and Gardens, Norfolk VA, 1981 * International Institute of Minnesota, Saint Paul MN, 1972 * Jane Haslem Gallery, Washington DC, 1982, 1984 * La Maison Francaise, NYU, New York NY, 1960 * Long Beach Museum of Art, Long Beach CA, 1977 * Lumley Cazalet Gallery, London, England, 1969, 1972, 1982 * Lviv Museum of Ukrainian Art, Lviv, Ukraine, 1990 * National Museum of Ukrainian Fine Arts, Kyiv, Ukraine, 1990 * Philadelphia Art Alliance, Philadelphia PA1961 * Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY, 1970 * Roberson Center for the Arts and Sciences, Binghamton, NY, 1974 * Salpeter Gallery, New York NY, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1964 * Sweet Briar College, Sweet Briar VA, 1984 * Tahir Gallery, New Orleans, 1967, 1971, 1974, 1976 * Ternopil Natural History Museum, Temopil, Ukraine, 1990 * Troup Gallery, Dallas TX, 1966, 1971 * Tryon Fine Art Center, Tryon NC, 1974 * Ukrainian Canadian Art Foundation, Toronto, ON, 1983, 1985 * Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art, Chicago IL, 1978, 1985 * University of Mount Olive, NC, 1972, 1984 * University of Virginia, Charlottesville VA, 1978, 1980, 1982, 1986 * Van Straaten Gallery, Chicago IL, 1971 (currently Denver CO) * Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, Sweet Briar VA, 1979, 1981 * Westwood Gallery, Westwood, MA, 1973 * Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg MB, 1973 * Yale University, New Haven CT, 1977

Traveling One-Man Shows

* Burnaby Art Gallery, Burnaby BC, 1985-1986 * Fendrick Gallery, Washington DC, 1987 * United States Information Service, Kyiv, 1995-1996 * Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond VA, 1987-1992 * Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg MB, 1973

Group exhibitions

* Audubon Artists, 1975 * Boston Printmakers, 1962 * National Academy of Design, 1963, 1973, 1976, 1977, 1980 * Pratt Graphic Center, 1975-1985 * Society of American Graphic Artists, 1965-1985 * Triennale Internazionale della Xilografia, 1972 * Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taiwan, 1983, 1985 * US Information Agencies in Europe, Asia, South America and Africa, 1963, 1965, 1967, 1968

Notes

References

External links

Jacques Hnizdovsky - Official SiteJacques Hnizdovsky ArchivesMFA Collections Database of Hnizdovsky PrintsThe Jacques Hnizdovsky Collection at the University of Mount OliveAskArt
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hnizdovsky, Jacques 1915 births 1985 deaths Modern printmakers Woodcut designers American etchers 20th-century American painters American male painters 20th-century American illustrators Realist painters Social realist artists 20th-century Ukrainian painters 20th-century Ukrainian male artists 20th-century American male artists Ukrainian male sculptors Ukrainian printmakers Ukrainian etchers 20th-century etchers 20th-century Ukrainian illustrators American people of Ukrainian descent Ukrainian stamp designers Burials at Lychakiv Cemetery Ukrainian nobility Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw alumni Academy of Fine Arts, University of Zagreb alumni 20th-century American printmakers Ukrainian male painters Polish emigrants to the United States Artists from Ternopil Oblast