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About - Exhibition archive - 2015

“Andriy Nimenko Artistic Universe”

On 18^th of June, 2015 in Kirovohrad Regional Art Museum was opened the exhibition of Andriy Vasylovych Nimenko works “Artistic Universe of Andriy Nimenko” devoted to 90^th birth anniversary of the artist (1925-2006)

Kirovohrad is rich in talents. The glory of its writers, poets, actors, masters, artists, sculptors etc., rings far beyond its boundaries. The figure of the unique artist, sculptor, medalist and author Andriy Vasylovych Nimenko occupies noteworthy place in this great pleiad. His art range or figuratively speaking, his art space is striking, it makes us to recall a well-known postulate – “talented person is talented in everything”.

Andriy Nimenko was born on 20^th of June, 1925 in the village Ingulo-Kamianka Novhorodka raion, Kirovohrad, and his childhood and youth rising maestro spendin Dolynska raion of our steppe region.

Andriy Vasylovych refers to the generation which held black ordeals of the Second World War and the country postwar restructuring. By the way, as the war activist he even wasn’t eighteen when he went up the line. Among his various front ways one of them runs across his home town Kirovohrad which he had to set free at the end of 1943 – early 1944. Numerous orders and medals which the young man received during the war eloquently speak for Andriy’s considerable contribution into the crushing defeat of Nazi and obtaining of such urgent for today peace.

After the war Nimenko studies at Kyiv Arts Institute and in 1951 graduates from it. He works as a teacher then becomes a candidate in study of art, member of the National Union of Artists of Ukraine and the National Union of Writers of Ukraine and even Merited Art Specialist of Georgian SSR in 1969, as if with his own life and fruitful work at art field he confirms primordial cultural relations, brotherhood and inner likeness of Ukrainian and Georgian nations.

Besides he is an active participant of numerous exhibitions of different level and organizes his personal ones with great success.

Mother Nature generously endowed Andriy Vasylovych with various talents. The artist fruitfully and persistently worked in the field of easel and monumental sculpture, graphics and study of art.

It’s even difficult to enumerate his artistic legacy which contains monuments to Lesja Ukrainka in Lutsk (1977), Mykhailo Pavlyk in Kosiv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Davit Guramishvili in Myrhorod, Poltava (1969), sculptures “Shota Rustaveli” (1966) and “Ali-Shir Nava’i” (1968), portrait sculpture of Yuriy Yanovskyi, Oleksandr Dovzhenko, Ostap Vyshnia, Hryhoriy Tiutiunnyk, Pavlo Zahrebelnyi, Volodymyr Vynnychenko, memorial plaques in particular to Yuriy Yanovskyi in Kyiv and to Taras Shevchenko in Zhytomyr, bas-reliefs and memorial complexes at the Arsenalna Kyiv metro station.

One more thing is that Andriy Vasylovych was among the first to revive coinage with copper, brass and other metals which is partially forgotten art.

One more important component of Andriy Nimenko’s artistic legacy became his series “Our Heroic Ancestors” (1969-1991) which includes 25 portraits of Ukrainian hetmans and people’s heroes of Ukraine and emphasize active public stance of the artist and patriot who take care about the history of his nation that is a role model for future generations. So, it’s quite natural that medallionist portraits of Ukrainian hetmans and political leaders of UPR times made by talented hands of Andriy Vasylovych often become a part of exhibitions with national-patriotic direction which are annually open in Kirovohrad Regional Art Museum.

The fact that while living in the village Ivanivka, Dolynska raion, Kirivohrad he created gypseous bust, memorial plaque, bronze and ceramic medals of Mykola Lvovych Davydov the founder of Dendropark “Veseli Bukovenky”.

Though, lyrical thematics which opened romantic and poetic soul of Andriy Vasylovych became no less important part of his art. Great number of wonderful landscapes where Nimenko reflects the beauty and splendours of nature confirms it. His landscapes project harmony and peace which are so desirable in our turbulent times. Besides, Andriy Vasylovych made many landscapes in the technique “pastel” which was extremely popular in the romantic 19^th century.

One more side of the diverse talent of Andriy Nimenko is a literary one. The artist became the author of seven poetic collected volumes, a book of prose “Forest Fantasy” (1991) and numerous memoirs. Furthermore in his literary and scientific heritage you can find monographic investigation on the development of Ukrainian pre-October and Soviet sculpture, and chapters of fourth and sixth volumes of the “History of Ukrainian Art”.

To the wide audience on the territory of Kirovhrad Andriy Nimenko is known as a sculptor first of all, but specialists and fine art experts and constant admirers of Nimenko’s art claim that he managed to reveal himself as all-arounder and as an artist. In fact, in his home town where people remember and love Andriy Vasylovych, in Dolynska Regional Museum of Regional Ethnography you can constantly observe the exhibition of his works.

Andriy Nimenko passed away on 1^st of February, 2006. It became an irreparable loss for artistic Kirovohrad. After the artist’s death his wife Larysa Terentiivna Masenko and his son Maksym Andriiovych Nimenko donated 358 artist’s works to the museum. Some of these works constantly became part of exhibitions of the Regional Art Museum which has appropriate thematic direction and of course Kirovohrad Regional Art Museum devoted to cherished memory of this unique and original artist which is rightfully our Steppe Hellas proud with.

The exhibition “Artistic Universe of Andriy Nimenko” presented in Kirovohrad Regional Art Museum discloses all diversity of his talent. Visitor of the exhibition has an opportunity to take pleasure in beautiful graphic works of Andriy Vasylovych: “Poppies in Vase”, “Willow”, “Autumn”, “During Fishing”, “Village”, “Winter Landscape” (water-colour), “Woman’s Portrait”, “Herdsman and Herdess”, “At the Pond” (crayon), “Mothers”, “Huzul”, “Bridegroom and Bride”, “Remote Girlish Voice” (monotype), “The Sun Began to Shine”, “The Stork”, “Path in the Mountains”, “Landscape. Bridge”, “Old Castle”, “The Sun is up” (lithography), “Wills above Cheremosh”, “On the Hill”, “Church”, “By the River”, “On the Meadow”, “Fir Seclusion”, “Under the Hill”, “Hutsulshchyna” (linoleum engraving) and others.

The status of highly professional medallionist and real patriot of his country emphasize represented in the exhibition bronze medals “Volodymyr Vynnychenko”, “In the Mighty Family…”, “Ostap Vyshnia”, “High Mountain Stands…”, “40^th Anniversary of Kyiv Liberation”, plaster models of medals “Monument to Lesja Ukrainka in Lutsk”, “Roksolana”, “Bohdan Khmelnytskyi”, “Ivan Sirko”, “Petro Doroshenko”, “Ivan Pidkova”, “Ivan Mazepa”, “Mykhailo Hrushevskyi”, “Symon Petliura”, “Pavlo Tychyna”, “Ivan Mykolaichuk” and others.

Part of the exhibition consists of interesting informative and illustrative material which introduces life and creative career of great artist to visitors.

Yurchenko, Oleh Hryhorovych, senior research assistant of

Kirovohrad Regional Art Museum