UKRAINE'S FLOWER ARTIST

 

Another Ukrainian folk artist that Picasso enjoyed was  KATERYNA VASYLIVNA BILOKUR.  "If we had an artist of this level, we would make the whole world talk about her.”

Born in 1900, in the village of Bohdanivka, near the capital,  she had  an unpromising start,  but her works became known in the late 1930s and 1940s for their interest in nature. She was named People's Artist of Ukraine.

At the age of 6 Kateryna learned to read, though her parents decided not to send her to school to save money on shoes and clothes. 

From early childhood she  wanted to paint. And despite the fact that it was impossible to get either paints or paper in her village, she made homemade brushes of twigs and scraps of wool, and painted on pieces of canvas she took from her mother, or on the tablets she found from her father.

She envied her younger brother, who was sent to  school — for he had notebooks! She started drawing at a young age, though her parents frowned upon this "hobby" and would not let her do it. Kateryna continued drawing secretly, using old rags and coal.

… wherever I go, whatever I do - I have an image in my head that I simply have to draw, it follows me... I'm offended by the Nature, it was cruel to me, by giving me this enormous love to holy drawing, and then took away any chance to create this marvelous work to the whole wide extent of my talent!"

She tried several times for training in art schools, but was not accepted. She continued to paint, and the resistance of her parents persisted. In 1934, driven to despair by the persecution of her mother, she tried to drown herself in the local river. 

Kateryna’s feet were affected by the icy cold water and  she remained disabled for the rest of her life.  Only after the suicide attempt did her mother allow her to paint and did not force her to marry, 

 Kateryna was an attractive girl and she had enough suitors in her native village, but none of them understood her passion for painting. The grooms were surprised and demanded she leave her creative dreams. Kateryna was in no hurry to get married. 

Already in her adulthood, she felt loneliness, she really wanted to share her joys and sorrows with a loved one, but they did not understand her in the village. She left her thoughts and feelings in her letters to Kyiv art critics, with whom she corresponded, and in her autobiography. All her lines are imbued with lyricism and sincere credulity.

 

Kateryna became famous for her flower compositions. All her works are distinguished by meticulous detail. In winter, she painted flowers from memory, but in spring and summer she worked both in the field and in the garden and would even walk 30 km away to the neighboring Pyriatyn forest to draw lilies of the valley.

The artist is known to never pick flowers. She said: "A plucked flower is like a lost destiny." Maybe that’s why her lively bouquets with peonies, daisies, roses, mallows, lilies have a special magic.


"Fate is testing those who dare to go towards a great goal, but no one will catch the courageous, they stubbornly and boldly go to their intended goal with clenched hands. And eventually fate rewards them a hundredfold and reveals all the secrets of truly beautiful and incomparable art to them."

UKRAINIAN NATIONAL TREASURE

 

           "May I Give this Ukrainian Bread to all People in this Big Wide World" - 1982

In our last Blog we mentioned the artist  MARIA PRYMACHENKO.   She was born in 1909 to a carpenter and craftsman and in a small village near Ivankiv, 19 miles from Chernobyl, where she lived for most of her life. She contracted polio at an early age, leaving her with physical impairment, which influenced her life and her art.  By reports from her relatives, Maria grew into а thoughtful and considerate woman, having compassion for nature and every living thing.

 Her art reflected the Ukrainian countryside to which she added mythological-style scenes and fantastic beasts. She also drew from local mythology and folklore.

Maria’s mother taught her embroidery when she was only a child, and later the artist, Tetiana Floru,  recognized her talents and in 1935, invited her to work at the Central Experimental Workshop of the Kyiv Museum of Ukrainian Art.

At this time, Maria swapped embroidery for painting, and is considered a self-taught artist.

 In Kyiv, Maria underwent two operations, which enabled her to stand unaided. She met her partner, Vasyl Marynchuk, there. In March 1941, their son Fedir was born. She and Vasyl did not have time to get married before he went to war,  and he died in Finland.  She returned to Ivankiv and worked on a collective farm.

Her work was first exhibited in 1936 at the First Republican Exhibition of Folk Art, which traveled around Russia and Poland. It was when her work was shown in Paris the following year, that Picasso saw it and  said: “I bow down before the artistic miracle of this brilliant Ukrainian.” 

The artist Marc Chagall, depicted realistic and fantastical animals in his paintings, which he called “the cousins of the strange beasts of Maria Prymachenko.” Since then, Maria has been a symbol of Ukraine.

In 1966, Maria was awarded the Taras Shevchenko National Prize of Ukraine.UNESCO declared that 2009 was the year of Prymachenko.

Thankfully, her works are spread among Ukrainian museums and private collections. The largest part of her legacy, nearly 650 works, dating from 1936 to 1987, is kept in the collection of the National Museum of Ukrainian Folk Applied Art in Kyiv which so far survives.

Maria’s son Fedir became a folk artist and a master of naiveté, dying in 2008. Her grandsons Petro and Ivan also became artists.

UKRAINIAN FUTURE

 

Son, Make the World Better Place, 1988 –

Ivan-Valentyn Zadorozhny. (b, 1921 in Rzhyshchiv, Ukraine)

We must safeguard the cultural heritage in Ukraine, as a testimony of the past but also as a catalyst for peace and cohesion for the future, which the international community has a duty to protect and preserve. 

(Audrey Azoulay   UNESCO Director-General, at the start of the Russian invasion.)

Ukraine is a country with a vast cultural heritage. But this rich cultural history is now at risk. All through the war, Ukrainians have tried to remove art pieces to safer ground.  Reminiscent of WWII?  Putin's recent assertions that the country is historically and culturally part of Russia have led to fears that his military may seek to destroy examples of Ukraine's unique artistic traditions.

Much has already been lost or destroyed. Museums in the homes of folk artists and folk production are found throughout the country. One such museum in the village of Ivankiv, not far from Kyiv,  was destroyed in a fire. It housed many works by one of the most loved folk artists, Maria Pryimachenko, which are now lost forever.  A  village man saved 25 of her paintings. She is considered to be an icon of Ukrainian national identity.

 With news of the Ivankiv museum attack spreading quickly around the world, overseas activists and arts organizations have been looking to publicize Maria’s  work as an act of solidarity. Her 1982 painting "A Dove Has Spread Her Wings and Asks for Peace”  is a symbol of hope for the country.

The severity of the damage to Ukraine’s cultural inheritance in other parts of the country, is yet to be assessed.

MEMORARE

 

                                              Uliana Krekhovets- Ukraine

Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary,
that never was it known
that anyone who fled to your protection,
implored your help
or sought your intercession
was left unaided.
Inspired with confidence, I fly to you,
O virgin of virgins, my Mother.
To you I come, before you I stand,
sinful and sorrowful.
O Mother of the Word Incarnate,
despise not my petitions,
but in your mercy,
hear and answer me.
Amen.

Today on Divine Mercy Sunday the Holy Father had these words:

“Today marks two months since the beginning of this war: Instead of stopping, the war has worsened. It is sad that in these days, which are the holiest and most solemn for all Christians, the deadly roar of weapons is heard rather than the sound of bells announcing the Resurrection; and it is sad that weapons are increasingly taking the place of words. 

I renew my appeal for an Easter truce, a minimal and tangible sign of a desire for peace. The attack must be stopped, to respond to the suffering of the exhausted population; it must stop, in obedience to the words of the Risen Lord, who on Easter Day repeats to his disciples: ‘Peace be with you! (Lk 24:36; Jn 20:19.21)..

I ask everyone to increase prayer for peace and to have the courage to say, to show that peace is possible. Political leaders, please, listen to the voice of the people, who want peace, not an escalation of the conflict."

MODERN SAINTS- UKRAINE

 

                                       Christ with Two Marys- Frank Wesley- India

"For women of this generation, who have lived through past wars, it must be “unbearable to see what has happened and is happening in Ukraine.

There is a fundamental need to change, following the lessons on peace taught by Jesus and the saints of every age, who make humanity grow through the witness of a life spent in the service of God and neighbor.

But it is also  the school of innumerable women who have cultivated and nurtured life; of women who have cared for fragility, who have healed wounds, who have healed the human and social wounds; of women who have dedicated mind and heart to the education of new generations.” (Pope Francis)

“The tragedies we are experiencing at the moment, particularly the war in the territory of Ukraine so close to us, remind us of the urgency of a civilization of love. In the eyes of our brothers and sisters, victims of the horrors of war, we read the profound and pressing need for a life marked by dignity, peace and love.

Like the Virgin Mary, we must continually cultivate the missionary spirit to make ourselves close to those who suffer, opening our hearts to them. We must walk with them, fight with them for their human dignity and spread the perfume of God's love everywhere."   Pope Francis, April 23,2022

RESURRECTION RICHES

 

                                                Mary at the Tomb-  Frank Wesley- India

She brake the box, and all the house was filled
With waftures*  from the fragrant store thereof,
While at His feet a costlier rose distilled
The bruisèd balm of penitential love. 

And lo, as if in recompense of her,
Bewildered in the lingering shades of night,
He breaks anon the sealèd sepulcher,
And fills the world with rapture and with light.

 "The Recompense” by John Banister Tabb.

* waving

Frank Wesley was born in Azamgarh, U.P., India in 1923 into a fifth generation Christian family of Hindu/Muslim background. 

He began studying at the government school of Arts and Crafts in Lucknow  continuing to postgraduate study, later joining the teaching staff.

With the aid of an American patron, Wesley continued his art education at Kyoto Art University from 1954 to 1958, where he learned traditional and modern Japanese painting techniques, lacquer work, textile design, woodblock printing, and ink drawing, and in Chicago from 1958 to 1960, which included coursework at the Art Institute, where he learned about modern abstraction and how to work with oil paint.

Wesley returned to India in 1960 and, after a four-year courtship, married Athalie Brown, an Australian nurse working in a mission hospital in Azamgarh. They had two children. Seeking better opportunities, he emigrated to Australia with his family in 1973 and lived there until his death in 2002. Even in his new adopted country, he continued painting biblical scenes in an Indian style.

His work has been internationally recognized. He designed the urn for Mahatma Ghandhi's ashes.  Five of his paintings were included in the 1950 Holy Year Exhibition at the Vatican.  "The Blue Madonna" was used as the first UNICEF Christmas card.

MYRRHBEARERS

Myrrhbearers-  Ivanka Demchuk

If in that Syrian garden, ages slain,

You sleep, and know not you are dead in vain,

Nor even in dreams behold how dark and bright

Ascends in smoke and fire by day and night

The hate you died to quench and could but fan,

Sleep well and see no morning, son of man.

But if, the grave rent and the stone rolled by,

At the right hand of majesty on high

You sit, and sitting so remember yet

Your tears, your agony and bloody sweat,

Your cross and passion and the life you gave,

Bow hither out of Heaven and see and save.

Easter Hymn -  A. E. Housman