The Ukranian Museum in NYC Presents a Sviatoslav Hordynsky Retrospective

Written by Edward Thornleigh Tuesday, 18 October 2011 21:04

New York City.— An exhibition of works by prominent Ukrainian-born artist Sviatoslav Hordynsky (1906-1993) is on display at The Ukrainian Museum in New York through November 6, 2011. "The Worlds of Sviatoslav Hordynsky" highlights Hordynsky’s artistic achievements and also documents his contributions as scholar, poet, critic, translator, and cultural activist. Despite an affliction in his youth that left him permanently deaf, Hordynsky went on to lead an extraordinary life. In 1924, he entered the Oleksa Novakivsky Art School (Lviv, Ukraine), which figured prominently in his artistic development. Seeking inspiration abroad, he traveled to Paris, where he studied the great artworks at the Louvre, took art classes at the Académie Julian, and exhibited in salons whenever possible. In 1929 he was admitted to Léger’s Académie Moderne. The result of his study with Fernand Léger was a profusion of book designs, posters, ex libris, and other graphic works that reflected his modernist tendencies and rank among his best works.

Throughout his career, Hordynsky’s devotion to his cultural heritage was a visible characteristic not only in much of his work, but also in his professional associations. After returning home, in 1931 Hordynsky was one of the founding members of the Association of Independent Ukrainian Artists, which became the center of Lviv’s artistic life until the onset of World War II. Also in 1931 Hordynsky and his fellow artists brought from Paris an impressive collection of prints, drawings, watercolors, and paintings by prominent Parisian avant-gardists. In July of that year they opened the first exhibition of western avant-garde art in Lviv; it included works by world-renowned modernists such as Pablo Picasso, Amedeo Modigliani, Marc Chagall, Alexis Gritchenko (Oleksa Hryshchenko), and others. (Hordynsky's handwritten list of items brought from Paris is in the present exhibition, as is the catalogue of the 1931 exhibition.)

Political currents in Eastern Europe during and after WWII forced Hordynsky to move West, where his early interest in Byzantine art led to a prolific career in creating sacred imagery for church interiors across the United States, Canada, and as far away as Australia. Hordynsky decorated more than 30 churches with iconostases, icons, and mosaics, thereby contributing to a major Byzantine revival. Together with other Ukrainian masters of the icon, like Petro Cholodny the Younger and Mychailo Osinchuk, he wrote an important new chapter in the continuous history of Ukrainian Byzantine church art. The works on display in The Worlds of Sviatoslav Hordynsky form a sweeping survey of Hordynsky’s oeuvre. Drawn largely from private collections, they include his earliest sketches from art school in Ukraine, drawings, graphic works, oils, watercolors, pastel studies for church mosaics, and photographs of completed large-scale projects. Documents and photographs from his personal archives illustrate Hordynsky’s activities in Paris and participation in exhibitions, as well as milestones in his life. Examples of Hordynsky’s poetry, essays, and other literature complete this portrait of this remarkable artist and his contributions to the cultural world.

The Ukrainian Museum acquires, preserves, and exhibits articles of artistic or historic significance to the rich cultural heritage of Ukrainian Americans; its collections include thousands of items of folk art, fine art, and archival material. At its founding in 1976 by the Ukrainian National Women’s League of America, the Museum was hailed as one of the finest achievements of Americans of Ukrainian descent; in the 35 years since then, and particularly in the five years since its move to a new, state-of-the-art building in Manhattan’s vibrant East Village, it has become known as one of the most interesting and dynamic smaller museums in New York City. Each year, the Museum organizes several exhibitions, publishes a number of bilingual (English/Ukrainian) catalogues, and presents a wide range of public and educational programs, including concerts, films, lectures, courses, workshops, and much more. The Ukrainian Museum is the largest museum in the U.S. committed to acquiring, preserving, exhibiting, and interpreting articles of artistic or historic significance to the rich cultural heritage of Ukrainians.

At its founding in 1976 by the Ukrainian National Women's League of America, the Museum was hailed as one of the finest achievements of the Ukrainian American community. Today, its unparalleled array of folk art, exceptional collection of fine art, and extensive compendium of archival materials make it one of the most unique and dynamic museums in New York City, with broad appeal for diverse audiences. Each year, the Museum organizes several exhibitions, publishes accompanying bilingual catalogues, and conducts a wide range of public programming, frequently in collaboration with other museums, educational institutions, and cultural centers. In 2005 the Museum moved into a new, state-of-the-art facility in the heart of Manhattan's vibrant East Village. The building was designed by Ukrainian American architect George Sawicki of Sawicki Tarella Architecture + Design in New York City. It was funded by scores of generous donations made principally by the Ukrainian American community. The Museum's new home, which includes spacious galleries and facilities for public programming, allows it to mount more elaborate exhibitions, to accommodate more visitors, and to preserve and showcase its growing collections.

The folk art collection, with more than 8,000 objects, is one of the most important collections outside of Ukraine. It features wedding and festive attire from various regions of Ukraine, ritual cloths (rushnyky) and kilims, and a broad selection of richly embroidered and woven textiles. This unique collection also includes ceramics, metalwork, and decorative wood-carved objects from the 19th and 20th centuries. In addition, the Museum holds an impressive collection of pysanky, or Ukrainian Easter eggs. The fine arts collection consists of some 2,000 paintings, drawings, graphic works, and sculptures by noted Ukrainian artists who worked in Ukraine, Europe, the United States, and elsewhere, primarily in the 20th century. It includes one of the most important collections of works by the well-known primitif artist Nikifor, probably the largest collection of paintings and watercolors by the artist and architect Vasyl Hryhorovych Krychevsky, and nearly all the works created in the United States by the sculptor Mykhailo Chereshnovsky. The collection also features works by Alexander Archipenko, Alexis Gritchenko, Oleksa Nowakiwsky, Ivan Trush, Jacques Hnizdovsky, Mykhailo Moroz, Luboslaw Hutsaliuk, and Edward Kozak, among many others. The Museum's archives boast more than 30,000 items – photographs, documents, the personal correspondence of noted individuals, playbills, posters, flyers, and the like, all documenting the life, history, and cultural legacy of the Ukrainian people. The history of Ukrainian immigration to the United States, which dates back to the late 1800s, is chronicled in the Museum's rich collection of archival photographs. Among the Museum's archives are an impressive collection of 17th and 18th century maps; an extensive numismatic collection that includes a 9th century silver hryvnia, 16th century coins, and Ukrainian currency from the early 20th century to the present; and a philatelic collection with items from the first quarter of the 20th century to the present.

The Museum offers a wide range of public programming throughout the year, including gallery talks, lectures, conferences, symposiums, concerts, and book presentations. Among the most popular offerings are workshops in traditional Ukrainian folk arts, such as embroidery, decorating pysanky (Ukrainian Easter eggs), Easter and Christmas holiday baking, and making traditional Christmas tree ornaments. Visit the museum's website at ... http://www.ukrainianmuseum.org

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