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The exhibition "Well of Souls"

At the grove where fire of viburnums

In ripened tassels crimsons,

On an emerald rug of lowlands

Like a tear, a well crystals...

Dmytro Lutsenko

 

On the 13th of September, 2016 the jubilee exhibition “Well of Souls” of Stanislav Antonovych Antoniuk, a member of the National Union of Artists of Ukraine, opened in Kirovohrad Regional Art Museum.

Kirovohrad land generously hosts artists from other regions of Ukraine again. This time a meeting with Stanislav Antoniuk, an outstanding representative of Ukrainian school of painting, a professional, hard-working and tireless artist from Zhytomyr, takes place. The citizens of Kropyvnytskyi and city guests had an opportunity to get to know the artist’s works 5 years ago, on the eve of the 20th anniversary of Ukrainian’s Independence. And here it is, a long-awaited exhibition!

Stanislav was born on the 7th of February, 1941 in Peremyshl, Lviv region (current Przemy?l, Subcarpathian Voivodeship, Poland). When World War II began, the family of the future artist evacuated to Simakivka village of Novohrad-Volynskyi Raion (district) of Zhytomyr region. After the end of the war they moved to Rzhatkivka village of Novohrad-Volynskyi Raion. In 1948 the young man entered Rzhatkivka four-grade elementary school, then studied at Novohrad-Volynskyi secondary school № 3 named after Michurin. He started to paint in the age of 15 surprising others with his skill to promptly express his thought through the picture. He attended painting classes at the House of Pioneers.

In 1959 he moved to Kyiv. At first he worked as a mechanic in "Pivdenenerhomontazh" and then as a senior laboratory assistant of Institute for Metal Physics of AS of USSR. He spent his free time attending various painting studios.

In 1961 Stanislav entered Kyiv school of applied art at art weaving department (current Kyiv State Institute of Decorative and Applied Art and Design named after Mykhailo Boichuk). After his military service he worked as an artist designer in various enterprises, and from 1975 to 1990 was a senior artist of Bureau of industrial aesthetics of the plant “Himvolokno".

Collaboration and learning from masters that are pride of Ukrainian art school (D. Shostak, M. Maksymenko) contributed to the further development of the professionalism, Thanks to which he opened his unique and vivid page in the history of Ukrainian painting.

From 2000 Stanislav Antoniuk is a member of the National Union of Artists of Ukraine.

During 2006 - 2008 he was a constant participant of plein-airs in Sedniv town of Chernihiv region. He took part in the 5th All-Ukrainian art plein-air “Khortytsia through Ages”. In 2007 he was awarded with a commemorative medal for taking part in All-Ukrainian landscape exhibition “Memorial A. I. Kuindzhi” in Melitopol, and in 2008 he got a certificate of a member of the 1st All-Ukrainian still life exhibition.

The artist is an active participant of regional, national and international exhibitions. During his creative career he participated in more than 48 All-Ukrainian art exhibitions.

Pictorial artworks by Stanis?aw Antoniuk are adornments in the collections of most famous museums of Ukraine, Russia, of private collections in Russia, the Baltic States, France, Germany, USA, Switzerland. His works were purchased by the Directorate of Art Exhibitions, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine.

The artist works fruitfully in the technique of easel painting, portrait, still life, and landscape genres. But still, Landscape and still life are favourite genres in Sanislav Antoniuk’s creative work. Decorative, ornamental approach in creating pictorial planes is typical for the artist’s artworks. He prefers a realistic manner, thoughtfully focuses on color, his paintings feature bright and emotional performance.  And, one can kindly envy an extraordinary efficiency of this man who can create his works round the clock forgetting to sleep and eat...

I would also like to tell how the luck brought us to know this extremely interesting person. For, I tell you once again, the artist is from Polissia (the northern part of Ukraine). The thing is that in 2006 the picture “Memories of Father and Ukraine” by Stanislav Antoniuk was bought by the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine and transferred to the Regional Art Museum’s collection. Already then the workers of the museum were astonished by the creative style of this work. This painting was exhibited for the first time in October 2009 at the exhibition "Knights of Steppe Hellas" dedicated to Cossacks’ Day. Moreover, to the opening of that exhibition the artist came at our invitation from distant Zhytomyr. After a while Stanislav Antonovych decided to transfer to the museum’s collection his two works: "Memories of Mother and Ukraine" (2009) and "Memories of Ukraine" (2006)! Thereafter, our museum has been constantly communicating with him and maintaining friendly relations. To the 20th anniversary of Ukraine's Independence there came a decision to open a solo exhibition of his works titled “I Draw up Some Water out of the Well, I Draw up the Good" for which Stanislav Antonovych created artworks with a philosophical implication “For those hungry spiritually I draw wells", and which presented 36 paintings of the master. This unique exhibition was the carried into life dream of the artist to represent a kind of art vernissage of various wells and wells and springs of Ukraine. During the opening of the exhibition Stanislav Antoniuk handed his artworks “Cabbage Near the Well” and “Overgrown Path to the Well” (2002) to the museum’s collection.

 In february, 2014 Kirovohrad Regional Art Museum received a letter from Stanislav with an offer collaboration, namely to transfer to the museum the collection of “well pictures”. Of course we responded gladly to such a generous present from the artist. In the autumn of the same year the museum’s troopers went to Zhitomir, visited the artist's studio and conveyed the collection to our city. The artist also decided to give the museum the canvas “Peonies” (2011), “Kamianka River in winter” (1996) and “By the Red Bridge in Sedniv” (2010). And that was not the end of these valuable gifts ... In 2015, Stanislav gave us a wonderful artwork "Bread of Ukraine" (2011). Today, 46 paintings of the master are kept in the museum's collection .

 The pictures of “Springs and wells cycle” were presented within the walls of Regional Art Museum on the anniversary exhibition, as Stanislav had celebrated his 75th anniversary in February. For wells, as we know, are the symbols of purity, healing waters, and inspiration. And water is bearer of life for all on earth. The wells on Antoniuk’s canvases are symbols of good, cosyness, well-being, they are full of subtle lyricism and serenity, and represent the source of spirituality of the Ukrainian people. It's like memories of carefree childhood ... Such picturesque sceneries as “Well above Sluch river in Horodnytsa" (2003), "Well in Sedniv" (2008), "Old well in the Chekhivtsi village” (2010) and others fascinate and attract attention with their ease and gentle play of colors. The artist is from Lviv region by origin, and wells in those villages were called by the names of those at whose houses they stood «Well of Baba Ola" (2009), "Old Well of Baba Bronia" (2010), “Zabuzhenko’s Well" (2001), “Spring of Baba Anelia “(2010), etc. And every house, every well and every person has its own history, its secret... these artworks amaze with the intensity of colour, a unique author flavour.

The triptych «Memories of Ukraine" (2006 -- 2010) noted above draws attention as well. One can clearly trace in it a boundless love to native land, life, traditions and customs of Ukrainian people.

“The most important for me is a complex colour. I do not mix paints with white, but I don’t lay clean colours as well. Since I noticed my wish to become an artist, I learn and improve all the time” -- says the master about himself.

 Stanislav Antonovych Antoniuk is one of Ukrainian leading realist painters, who defends the traditions of Ukrainian fine art and preserves a unique individuality of thought, while always stressing his involvement in Ukrainian culture.

The students of Kirovohrad Commercial College and department arts of Kirovograd State Pedagogical University named after Volodymyr Vynnychenko, Kirovohrad artists, journalists and critics came to the opening of the exhibition. Andrii Khvorost, the head of Kirovohrad regional organization of the National Union of Artist of Ukraine greeted the colleague from Zhytomyr with a welcoming speech. During the opening everybody had an opportunity to watch a video presentation of the artist’s life and creative path.

 

Lesia Dmitriieva, research assistant 

of Kirovohrad Regional Art Museum’s 

scientific-educational activity department