Serhii Ivanovych Vasylkivsky ( uk, Сергій Іванович Васильківський, ; russian: link=no, Серге́й Иванович Васильковский; October 19, 1854,
Izium
Izium or Izyum ( uk, Ізюм, ; russian: Изюм) is a city on the Donets River in Kharkiv Oblast (province) of eastern Ukraine. It serves as the administrative center of Izium Raion (district). Izium hosts the administration of Izium urban ...
— October 7, 1917,
Kharkiv
Kharkiv ( uk, wikt:Харків, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine.Ukrainian
Ukrainian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Ukraine
* Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe
* Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine
* Som ...
artists of the pre-
revolutionary
A revolutionary is a person who either participates in, or advocates a revolution. The term ''revolutionary'' can also be used as an adjective, to refer to something that has a major, sudden impact on society or on some aspect of human endeavor. ...
period and an expert on Ukrainian ornamentation and folk art.
Biography
Vasylkivsky grew up in an environment conducive to his development as an artist. He was born and spent his childhood in the picturesque surroundings of
Izium
Izium or Izyum ( uk, Ізюм, ; russian: Изюм) is a city on the Donets River in Kharkiv Oblast (province) of eastern Ukraine. It serves as the administrative center of Izium Raion (district). Izium hosts the administration of Izium urban ...
, a city in the historical region of
Sloboda Ukraine
Sloboda Ukraine (literally: Borderland of free frontier guards; uk, Слобідська Україна, Slobidska Ukraina), or Slobozhanshchyna ( uk, Слобожанщина, Slobozhanshchyna, ), is a historical region, now located in Northeas ...
, and today's
Kharkiv Oblast
Kharkiv Oblast ( uk, Харківська́ о́бласть, translit=Kharkivska oblast), also referred to as Kharkivshchyna ( uk, Ха́рківщина), is an oblast (province) of eastern Ukraine. The oblast borders Russia to the north, Luhan ...
.Vasylkivsky, Serhii Encyclopedia of Ukraine. ''The Encyclopedia of Ukraine'', vol. 5 (1993) The future painter had a
chumak
Chumak ( uk , чумак) was a historical and traditional wagon-based trade , trading occupation in the territory of modern Ukraine in the Late Middle Ages, late Medieval and Early modern period , early Modern periods of history.Proskurova, S. ...
ancestral lines. Vasylkivsky's father was a writer and taught his son the aesthetics of proper calligraphy. His mother, through her folk songs set the foundation which provided the inspiration for Vasylkivsky's art later in life.
When he was seven years old, his parents moved to
Kharkiv
Kharkiv ( uk, wikt:Харків, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine.gymnasium by
Dmytro Bezperchy
Dmytro Bezperchy (Ukrainian:Дмитро Іванович Безперчий; 30 October 1825, Borisovka — 30 September 1913, Kharkiv) was a Ukrainian genre painter in the Academic style.
Early life
He studied art in Saint Petersburg, ...
, a student of
Karl Briullov
Karl Pavlovich Bryullov (russian: Карл Па́влович Брюлло́в; 12 December 1799 – 11 June 1852), original name Charles Bruleau, also transliterated Briullov and Briuloff, and referred to by his friends as "Karl the Great", was a ...
. During the years of his study, Vasylkivsky was able to use the extensive book collection of his relative and poet, V. Alexandrov. Among these were the works by
Ivan Kotlyarevsky
Ivan Petrovych Kotliarevsky ( uk, Іван Петрович Котляревський) ( in Poltava – in Poltava, Russian Empire, now Ukraine) was a Ukrainian writer, poet and playwright, social activist, regarded as the pioneer of modern Ukr ...
,
Taras Shevchenko
Taras Hryhorovych Shevchenko ( uk, Тарас Григорович Шевченко , pronounced without the middle name; – ), also known as Kobzar Taras, or simply Kobzar (a kobzar is a bard in Ukrainian culture), was a Ukrainian poet, writ ...
, and
Nikolai Gogol
Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol; uk, link=no, Мико́ла Васи́льович Го́голь, translit=Mykola Vasyliovych Hohol; (russian: Яновский; uk, Яновський, translit=Yanovskyi) ( – ) was a Russian novelist, ...
, which made a strong impression on the young artist. After five years of education at the gymnasium and at the demand of his father, Vasylkivsky began studies at the
Kharkiv Veterinary School
Kharkiv ( uk, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest city and municipality in Ukraine.
. This lasted until 1873, when Vasylkivsky left veterinary studies due to his parents inability to pay for tuition. For a while, he worked as a civil servant in Kharkiv.
In 1876, contrary to his father's wishes, Vasylkivsky left for the
St. Petersburg Academy of Fine Arts
The Russian Academy of Arts, informally known as the Saint Petersburg Academy of Arts, was an art academy in Saint Petersburg, founded in 1757 by the founder of the Imperial Moscow University Ivan Shuvalov under the name ''Academy of the T ...
. While there, Vasylkivsky was supervised by well known landscape painters
Volodymyr Orlovsky
Vladimir Orlovsky (russian: Владимир Донатович Орловский; 1842, Kiev, Russian Empire – 1914, Genoa, Italy) was a Ukrainian realist painter and academic of Saint Petersburg Academy of Arts. Orlovsky painted fo ...
and Mykhailo Klodt. His education was supplemented with traveling exhibitions and trips back home. Upon graduation in 1885 he traveled to Europe and North Africa on a scholarship from the Academy, painting places he visited from Spain to Germany and Egypt.''Spirit of Ukraine: 500 Years of Painting. '' Winnipeg Art Gallery. 1991, pg. 212 .
In Paris, Vasylkivsky became fascinated with the Barbizon school. By the time he returned to the Academy, Vasylkivsky brought with him an exhibition of almost 50 art works. Critics praised these paintings, calling them "miniature pearls". The paintings reflected the influence of the Barbizon School's panoramic depiction of space, the sky and the silvery atmosphere of "Pierre Corot". Vasylkivsky retained these characteristics in his Ukrainian landscapes.
After settling in
Kharkiv
Kharkiv ( uk, wikt:Харків, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine.Kharkiv
Kharkiv ( uk, wikt:Харків, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine.
Art works
A typical Vasylkivsky theme is an armed horse-mounted
Zaporozhian Cossack
The Zaporozhian Cossacks, Zaporozhian Cossack Army, Zaporozhian Host, (, or uk, Військо Запорізьке, translit=Viisko Zaporizke, translit-std=ungegn, label=none) or simply Zaporozhians ( uk, Запорожці, translit=Zaporoz ...
in the Ukrainian
steppes
In physical geography, a steppe () is an ecoregion characterized by grassland plains without trees apart from those near rivers and lakes.
Steppe biomes may include:
* the montane grasslands and shrublands biome
* the temperate grasslands, ...
or a group of cossacks on sentry duty, traveling or resting. To this group of works belong panoramic views with historical titles such as "Cossack Mountain".
In the middle of the painting "Cossack Picket" (1888), three horses stand in the dawn light; to the right, near the fire, sit resting cossacks who are on watch duty in the steppes. The sky and the unbounded steppes, veiled in lily-blue fog, and wet grass and humid air, change colors gradually.
Legacy
The end of the nineteenth century and early twentieth century saw an upsurge of interest in Ukrainian culture and the flourishing of Ukrainian painting. Painters such as Serhiy Vasylkivsky and
Oleksandr Murashko
Oleksandr Oleksandrovych Murashko ( uk, Олександр Олександрович Мурашко); also known as Aleksandr Murashko ( – June 14, 1919) was a prominent Ukrainian painter.
Life and career
Murashko was born in Kyiv. His st ...
introduced new subjects, new approaches, new visions and new techniques to keep abreast with the latest developments in European painting of those times.
Vasylkivsky left behind almost 3,000 works of realist and
impressionist
Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passag ...
art, sketches, drawings, a great number of which were lost during World War II. He was the first, after
Taras Shevchenko
Taras Hryhorovych Shevchenko ( uk, Тарас Григорович Шевченко , pronounced without the middle name; – ), also known as Kobzar Taras, or simply Kobzar (a kobzar is a bard in Ukrainian culture), was a Ukrainian poet, writ ...
, to draw upon subject matter from Ukraine's past and completed a number of works on historical and ethnographic themes.
Vasylkivsky created three large panels for the
Poltava
Poltava (, ; uk, Полтава ) is a city located on the Vorskla River in central Ukraine. It is the capital city of the Poltava Oblast (province) and of the surrounding Poltava Raion (district) of the oblast. Poltava is administrative ...
Zemstvo
A ''zemstvo'' ( rus, земство, p=ˈzʲɛmstvə, plural ''zemstva'' – rus, земства) was an institution of local government set up during the great emancipation reform of 1861 carried out in Imperial Russia by Emperor Alexande ...
(Provincial Land Administration) building which was designed by the Ukrainian architect
Vasyl Krychevsky
Vasyl Hryhorovych Krychevsky ( uk, Василь Григорович Кричевський; January 12, 1873 in Vorozhba village, now Lebedyn Raion – November 15, 1952, in Caracas, Venezuela) was a Ukrainian painter, architect, art scholar, ...
: ''The Chumak Road to Romodan'', ''Election of Pushkar'', ''The Duel of Cossack Holota with a Tatar''. As well, he helped design the interior ornamentation in a 'Modern Ukrainian' folk style.
Together with Mykola Samokysh and ethnographer and archaeologist,
Dmytro Yavornytsky
Dmytro Ivanovych Yavornytsky ( uk, Дмитро́ Іва́нович Яворни́цький), or Dmitry Ivanovich Yavornitsky (also known as ''Dmitry Evarnitsky'', russian: Дмитрий Иванович Яворницкий; November 6, 1855, ...
, Vasylkivsky worked on the album "From Ukrainian Antiquity" (1900).
Further reading
Albums of Vasylkivsky's works were published in 1970 and 1987. Books about him have been written by O. Nikolaiev (1927), Kostiantyn Slipko-Moskaltsiv (1930), M. Bezkhutry (1954, 1967), and I. Ohiievska (1980).