VI. The ukrainian classicist painters
Politically and culturally, the period of Classicism was the time of Ukraine's national decline. The processes of Russification and denationalization, resulting from the imperialist policies of Catherine II and the dissolution of the Cossack Hetman state, embraced the potential leaders of Ukraine's cultural life: the nobility and the higher clergy. The majority of Ukrainian classicist artists worked in Saint Petersburg and had an important influence on the development of Russian painting; among these artists were Antin Losenko, who founded the historical school at the Russian Academy of Arts; Dmytro H. Levytsky, who was the leading portraitist of his time; and Levytsky's student Volodymyr Borovykovsky, who painted icons and portraits. Vasilii Tropinin (a Russian who spent many years in Podilia), M. Terensky of Peremyshl, and Luka Dolynsky and I. Luchynsky of Lviv were realist painters of the classicist school. In general, the works of the classicists are devoid of national traits. Classicism survived in Ukraine until the middle of the 19th century, when it turned into academism... Learn more about the Ukrainian classicist painters by visiting the following entries:
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CLASSICISM. In art classicism refers to a certain style, connected with classical culture and works of art, whose simplicity and severity of form contrast with the decorativeness of the baroque. Classicism came to Ukraine from central and southern Europe in the mid-18th century. Its influence was felt first in Western Ukraine, where it manifested itself mainly in the architecture of palaces and villas. Later these kinds of buildings were built in central and eastern Ukraine by Italian, French, English, and German architects. In sculpture classicism was represented by Ivan P. Martos and M. Kozlovsky, who worked in Saint Petersburg and Moscow and were the leading artists and teachers at the end of the 18th century, and by Kostiantyn Klymchenko, who worked in Rome. The masters of decorative painting, which was very typical of the period and was widely used in the palaces in Ukraine, were Hryhorii Stetsenko, Yu. Kozakevych, I. Kosarevsky, and the painter-serf M. Dykov... |
Classicism |
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LOSENKO, ANTIN, b 10 August 1737 in Hlukhiv, Nizhen regiment, d 4 December 1773 in Saint Petersburg. Painter; a leading exponent of historical painting in the classicist style. He was brought to Saint Petersburg to sing in the imperial court choir in 1744. After his voice changed, he was sent to study art under I. Argunov (1753-8) and at the Saint Petersburg Academy of Arts (1759-60), which gave him bursaries to study in Paris (1760-5) and Rome (1766-9). Losenko became a member of and professor at the academy in 1770, served as its director (1772-3), and wrote its textbook on human proportions (1772). His oeuvre includes paintings on biblical and mythological themes, portraits of prominent personalities, a self-portrait, and approx 200 drawings of nude figures and parts of the body, which were held up as models of excellence to students at the academy for many years... |
Antin Losenko |
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LEVYTSKY, DMYTRO H., b 1735 in Kyiv, d 16 April 1822 in Saint Petersburg. The most prominent portraitist of the classicist era in the Russian Empire. He acquired his basic training from his father, Hryhorii Levytsky. In 1753-6 he helped his father and Aleksii Antropov decorate Saint Andrew's Church in Kyiv. From 1758 to 1761 he worked in Saint Petersburg. From 1762, while living in Moscow he was a portraitist in great demand among the Russian aristocracy. He moved to Saint Petersburg in 1769, and he won the highest award at the summer exhibition in 1770 held by the Saint Petersburg Academy of Arts and was elected a member of the academy. Building on the baroque, classicism, and Western European traditions, Levytsky created a school of portrait painting. His portraits reveal his expert knowledge of drawing, composition, color, and the appropriate gesture... |
Dmytro H. Levytsky |
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BOROVYKOVSKY, VOLODYMYR, b 4 August 1757 in Myrhorod in the Poltava region, d 18 April 1825 in Saint Petersburg. Iconographer and portrait painter, son of Luka Borovyk (d 1775) who was a Cossack fellow of the banner and an iconographer. Borovykovsky was trained in art by his father and uncle and then in 1788 went to study portrait painting under Dmytro H. Levytsky at the Saint Petersburg Academy of Arts. In 1793 he became an academician there. Until 1787 Borovykovsky lived and worked in Ukraine. During his career he painted many churches, icons, and iconostases, only some of which have been preserved. Borovykovsky's religious art departed from the established norms of Byzantine iconography in the Russian Empire and tended towards a realistic approach. He painted about 160 portraits, among them Ukrainian public figures. Adhering to the spirit of classicism, he promoted West European traditions through his art... |
Volodymyr Borovykovsky |
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