Three luminaries
Over the course of two days, March 12-13, the Ukrainian Studies Program at Columbia University’s Harriman Institute presented a scholarly forum titled: “Kharkiv – City of Ukrainian Culture: An International Conference in Honor of Yuri Shevelov.” Prof. Shevelov (1908-2002) was not only one of Kharkiv’s greatest native scholars but also a renowned professor of Slavic philology at Columbia University. The panels were dedicated to the extraordinary linguistic, literary and cultural legacy of this giant of Ukrainian studies.
Born of German parents, Prof. Shevelov grew up in Kharkiv, the one-time capital of Ukraine and cradle of the Ukrainian Renaissance that became an indivisible part of his life. This conference illustrated the importance of Kharkiv not only as a political capital, but also as a mecca for Ukrainian artists who created dynamic and unprecedented cultural achievements in literature, art, theater and film, notably in the 1920s.
A visionary intellectual, Prof. Shevelov predicted new threats from Russia unless Ukraine set out to fulfill its colossal modern potential of what he called “unity in variety.” He published over 600 scholarly texts on Ukrainian and Slavic philology and argued against the commonly held view of one original and unified East Slavic language, from which the Ukrainian, Belarusian and Russian languages diverged.
The year 2015 marked the 100th anniversary of the birth of renowned Ukrainian American painter and printmaker Jacques Hnizdovsky (1915-1985). His works have been widely exhibited and many are in permanent collections of museums worldwide. The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston has a large collection of his prints, and his archives are housed in the New York Public Library.
Born in the Ternopil region of Ukraine, Mr. Hnizdovsky moved to the United States in 1949. He was inspired by woodblock printing in Japan, as well as the woodcuts of Albrecht Dürer. His popular woodcuts often depict plants and animals – a favorite theme from his many trips to the Botanical Gardens and Bronx Zoo in New York.
On March 22, Ukrainian National Women’s League of America Branch 75 sponsored the “Jacques Hnizdovsky Flora and Fauna Centennial Exhibit” featuring over 95 works of art at the Ukrainian American Cultural Center of New Jersey in Whippany. In addition to woodcuts, the exhibit included several pen-and-ink drawings, watercolors and tapestries, which were rarely previously seen.
On May 29, the National Art Museum in Kyiv opened a showing of over 100 of Mr. Hnizdovsky’s works. Smaller exhibits travelled to Poltava, Cherkasy and Dnipropetrovsk in the fall.
Born in 1929, Zenowij Onyshkewych is a prolific Ukrainian American artist whose works are found in prestigious international collections, including a life-size portrait of Pope Paul VI at the Vatican. On September 30, The Ukrainian Museum in New York launched a showing of his drawings, watercolors and oils titled: “Sixty Years an Artist: A Retrospective Exhibition of Works by Zenowij Onyshkewych,” which included landscapes, portraits and caricatures. They illustrate his romantic approach to landscapes and capacity to express human emotions when confronted with the forces of nature.
An American immigrant who settled on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, Mr. Onyshkewych found himself drawn to Impressionism and Japanese influences. He served in the Korean War and the growing inwardness in his works and fascination with earlier epochs in art are not uncommon for someone who survived two wars – one as a youth and the other as a soldier.
His caricatures, paintings and editorial illustrations have appeared in The New York Times, The National Observer, Readers Digest and books published by St. Martin’s Press, McGraw Hill and Random House.