The Eight

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Bogomazov Alexander Ermilov Vasily Khvostenko-Khvostov Alexander Nikritin Solomon Padalka Ivan Pavlenko Oksana Sedlyar Vasily Sinyakova Maria

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Bogomazov Alexander Ermilov Vasily Khvostenko-Khvostov Alexander Nikritin Solomon Padalka Ivan Pavlenko Oksana Sedlyar Vasily Sinyakova Maria

Avant-Garde: Ukrainian Model The appearance of a new dimension of thinking L. Shestov Avant-garde art is a unique phenomenon in the global artistic practice. A categorical revision of the image of the world, it was informed by great scientific discoveries in various fields of knowledge, that made it impossible to reflect the new perception of the world by means of traditional verbal and visual images.

Avant-garde artists, the creators and conductors of new meanings in the planetary scale, looked for the answers to the important questions of existence; they propagated the prophesy and the dream of spiritual revival. Their new approach to mastering the reality is also connected with the emergence of a new artistic language; with the renunciation of the principle of mimesis (similarity). The fundamental rejection of the figurativeness led to radical plastic innovations: abstraction, pointlessness, visualization of the world beyond our perception. An artwork became an independent planetary world, a plastic realization of thought, a reflection of the micro- and macrocosm, the breath of the universe or the movements of the soul.

The artistic practices of Russian and Ukrainian avant-garde are distinguished due to their specific radicalism, incredible invariance, and to the contribution made by a number of the greatest masters of creativity. V. Kandinsky and K. Malevich, V. Tatlin and V. Ermilov, M. Matyushin and P. Filonov, A. Exter and

A. Bogomazov, as well as many others, wishing to express the ideas of certain fundamental principles of space and cosmogony, came to the creation of a universal artistic system and its theoretical justification. They laid the foundation for the new artistic thinking that is necessary for understanding contemporary art.

The collection of graphic works by eight famous Ukrainian avant-garde artists, all of which paved a way for the art of the 20th century, acquaints us with the nature of searching for a new artistic language in the space of Ukrainian modernism.

A variety of plastic solutions ‒ from extremely radical or pointless to more moderate, ones featuring figurative elements ‒ introduces us to the peculiar features of the Ukrainian avant-garde model.

The representatives of neo-primitivism, constructivism, cubo-futurism, spectralism, projectionism and other innovations, working in the field of easel and mural painting, poster design and book illustration, industrial design and stage scenery, reveal us their laboratory, their creative “kitchen” where small graphic works of preliminary nature, as a rule, gave rise to new forms and laid the foundations for post-classical art.

This project is a unique opportunity not only to “have a quick look into the discoverer’s workshop”, but also to feel involved in the process of great discoveries that predetermined, for a long time, the development of the whole new approach to arts.

Bogomazov Alexander (1880 – 1930) 6

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The founder of Ukrainian Cubo-Futurism and a representative of the Spectralist movement, Alexander Bogomazov was a painter, graphic artist, and avant-garde art theoretician. He was born in Yampol, Kharkov governorate. In 1902, he entered the Kiev Art School where his teachers were I. Seleznev, A. Murashko, and N. Pimonenko.

He also attended private studios in Moscow. His treatise, «The Art of Painting and the Elements» (1913 to 1914), he dedicated to Wanda Monastyrska ‒ his wife, muse, and a fellow artist. Together with Aleksandra Ekster, he founded the artistic association of young avant-garde artists called «Koltso» («The Ring») in Kiev in 1914. Alexander Bogomazov was a professor at the Kiev Art Institute in 1922 ‒ 1930.

Bogomazov Alexander UNTITLED. Front Pencil on paper 25 х 21.3 cm

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Bogomazov Alexander UNTITLED. 1914 Pencil on paper 17 Ñ… 18.7 cm

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Bogomazov Alexander UNTITLED. Front Ink on paper 22.2 Ñ… 17.7 cm

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Bogomazov Alexander PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST'S FATHER. 1914 Ink on paper 22.1 х 17.5 cm

Bogomazov Alexander PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST'S WIFE Sanguine on paper 21.5 х 16.6 cm

Ermilov Vasily (1880 – 1930) 14

A painter, graphic artist, muralist and designer.

From 1905 to 1909, he studied at the Art and Craft Workshop of Decorative Painting of Kharkov Literacy Society. From 1910 to 1911, he continued his education at the Kharkov Art School and at the studio of E. Steinberg and A. Grot. Ermilov was a member of the «Golubaya Liliya» («The Blue Lily») art group in 1911 and 1912. He studied at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, along with V. Mayakovsky and D. Burlyuk (1912 to 1913). After his return to Kharkov, he became a member of two art groups, «Budyak» («The Weed») (1912 to 1913) and «Soyuz semi» («The Union of Seven») (1917). From January 1920, he headed the propaganda department at UkROSTA (All-Ukrainian Bureau of Russian Telegraph Agency) and the painting shop at the Factory of Art Industry. In 1925, together with D. Burlyuk, B. Moeller, A. Bogomazov, V. Palmov and others, he joined the Association of the Revolutionary Art of Ukraine. From 1928 to 1929, he was the artistic director of «The Avant-garde» magazine. Ermilov’s personal exhibition took place in Kharkov in 1962. He taught at Kharkov Art and Industry Institute (1963 to 1967).

Ermilov Vasily A STANDING NUDE Brown pencil on paper 32.5 х 21 cm

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Khvostenko-Khvostov Alexander (1895 ‑ 1967) 16

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An artist and stage designer, one of the founders of Ukrainian scenography, Khvostenko-Khvostov was born in the village of Borisovka (now part of Belgorod region). From 1907 to 1917, he studied at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. In 1917, he entered the Moscow Union of Artists, together with K. Malevich, Alexandra Ekster, V. Meller. From 1918 to 1919, he studied at Alexandra Ekster’s Art Studio in Kiev. From 1920 to 1921, he worked as a designer of propaganda posters and advertising.

After 1920, he produced numerous, mainly constructivist, designs for ballets and operas in Kharkov and Kiev. In 1926, he participated in the production of Prokofiev’s «The Love for Three Oranges». In the 1920s and 1930s, he worked as an artist and scenographer for operas by Gounod, Rossini, Wagner, Bizet, and Lysenko.

Khvostenko-Khvostov Alexander THE VALKYRIE. Front Coloured pencils on paper 24.3 х 18.7 cm

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Nikritin Solomon (1898 – 1965) 18

Born in Chernigov, Nikritin was a painter, graphic artist, designer, scenographer and art theoretician. From 1909 to 1914, he studied at the Kiev Art School, the studio of A. Murashko, then at L. Pasternak’s private school in Moscow and A. Yakovlev’s studio in St.-Petersburg. In 1917, he attended the Art Studio of Alexandra Ekster in Kiev. In the autumn of 1920, he entered the VKhUTEMAS (Moscow Higher Art and Technical Workshops), the class of Vassily Kandinsky. By 1922, he formulated a new art direction called «projectionism» and created The Projection Theatre based on the ideas of biomechanics. He developed and created the program of the new analytical approach to art.

In 1925, Nikritin was officially appointed as the Head of the «Analytical cabinet» at the Museum of Artistic Culture in Moscow where he worked until it was closed in 1929.

Nikritin Solomon UNTITLED Oil on paper 31 х 21.6 cm

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Nikritin Solomon UNTITLED Ink on graph paper 16.8 х 13.5 cm

Nikritin Solomon UNTITLED Ink on paper 21.9 х 17.4 cm

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Nikritin Solomon Untitled Ink on paper 19.1 Ń… 14.4 cm

Nikritin Solomon Untitled Pencil on paper 13.8 Ń… 16 cm

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Nikritin Solomon UNTITLED Pencil on paper 21.2 х 17.3 cm

Nikritin Solomon UNTITLED Pencil on paper 25.3 х 23 cm

Padalka Ivan (1894 – 1937) 26

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A painter, graphic artist and muralist, he was born in the village of Zhernoklevy, Poltava region. In 1909, he entered the N.V. Gogol Industrial Art Ceramic School in Mirgorod where he was taught by O. Slastion. From 1913, he studied at the Kiev Art School. Padalka was one of the first disciples of M. Boychuk when the Ukrainian Academy of Arts was established in 1917. Having graduated from the Academy and till 1921, he taught painting at the Art Ceramic College of Mirgorod where he also headed the workshop that produced toys for children. From 1921 to 1925, he worked at Mezhigorye Art and Ceramics College. From 1925, he was a member of the Association of Revolutionary Art of Ukraine and worked as a lecturer at the Kharkov Art Institute. From 1934, he worked as a professor at the Kiev Art Institute. He was arrested as an «enemy of the people» in 1936 and sentenced to death a year later.

Padalka Ivan THE UKRAINIAN WOMAN. 1919. Front Pencil and tempera on cardboard 13 х 8.4 cm

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Pavlenko Oksana (1895 ‑ 1991) 28

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A master of mural and easel painting, Pavlenko also worked with ceramics. She was born in the village of Valyava, Cherkasy region. From 1914 to 1917, she studied at the Kiev Art School under Photius Krasicki; from 1917 to 1918 ‒ at the Ukrainian Academy of Arts at the studio of Fedor Krichevsky; from 1918 to 1922 ‒ at the studio of mural painting under Mikhail Boychuk.

She taught at Mezhigorye Arts and Ceramics College. In 1929, she became a scientific secretary at the Ceramics Department at the VKHUTEMAS ‒ the Higher Art and Technical Studios (Moscow). After the institution was dissolved, she continued teaching at the Moscow Institute of Silicate, the Institute of Publishing, and the Moscow Higher School of Industrial Art.

Pavlenko Oksana THE BLIND OLD WOMAN. 1920. Front Pencil and tempera on paper 22 х 9.8 cm

Back. 1918 Pencil and tempera on paper 22 х 9.8 cm

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Pavlenko Oksana UNTITLED. Front Pencil on paper 22.5 Ñ… 18.2 cm

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Pavlenko Oksana UNTITLED. 1929 – 1931 Tempera on paper 53.6 х 71.8 cm

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Pavlenko Oksana FOR THE COMMUNE. 1920 Drawing on toned paper 70 Ñ… 54 cm

Sedlyar Vasily (1899 ‑ 1937) 36

A muralist, graphic artist and illustrator.

Having graduated from the Kiev Art School in 1919, he was admitted to the Ukrainian Academy of Fine Arts, to the M. Boychuk’s studio of mural art. After his graduation from the Academy in 1922, he was appointed as the Head of Mezhigorye Art and Ceramics College.

From 1930 to 1936, he taught at the Kiev Art Institute. From November 1926 to May 1927, together with Mikhail Boychuk and Ivan Padalka, he visited Germany, France and Italy, and thereafter all three of them were accused of counterrevolutionary activities. Sedlyar was arrested in Kiev and, together with M. Boychuk and I. Padalka, shot to death in 1937.

Sedlyar Vasily UNTITLED Ink on wallpaper 18.6 х 7.3 cm

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Sedlyar Vasily UNTITLED Ink on tracing paper 9.8 Ñ… 10.4 cm

Sinyakova Maria (1890 ‑ 1984) 40

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A representative of the Neo-primitivist movement, she was born in 1890 in Krasnaya Polyana, Kharkov governorate. She studied at the Eugene Agafonov Art Studio «Golubaya liliya» («The Blue Lily») and participated in the eponymous group of young avant-garde artists from Kharkov. She was a member of several artistic groups in Kharkov, namely «Budyak» («The Weed») and «Vykus» («Get bit»). From 1913 to 1914, she lived and studied in Moscow, participated in «The Union of Youth» (with A. Ekster, D. Burlyuk, K. Malevich, N. Goncharova and M. Larionov). Sinyakova was one of the authors of the futuristic declaration «The Pipe of Martians» (Kharkov, 1916) and a member of the association «The Union of Seven» (Kharkov, 1918). She participated in the futuristic edition «Lirni», illustrated the poetry by Grigory Petnikov, Aleksei Kruchenykh and Nikolai Aseev. She was a friend of Velimir Khlebnikov who dedicated a series of poetic works to her, including the poem «Sinie okovy» («The Blue Fetters»). The only solo exhibition of Maria Sinyakova took place in the Kiev Department of the Writers’ Union of the USSR in 1969.

Sinyakova Maria UNTITLED. Front Sanguine on paper 19.4 х 15.4 cm

Back Sanguine on paper 19.4 х 15.4 cm

Bogomazov Alexander Ermilov Vasily Khvostenko-Khvostov Alexander Nikritin Solomon Padalka Ivan Pavlenko Oksana Sedlyar Vasily Sinyakova Maria

All works presented in the catalogue earlier used to be part of Igor Dychenko's collection.

Kyiv – 2017

TEXT: Elena Borimskaya COORDINATION: Tatyana Voloshyna PHOTOGRAPHY OF WORKS: Konstantin Donin DESIGN: Victor Volodymyrov-Lykholit

W H I T E S P A C E P ROJ EC TS