ASSIMILATION POST-IMPRESSIONISM PARADIGM UNDER CONDITIONS OF SOCIAL-THEMATIC PLOT OF SOCIALIST REALISM (PROBLEM OF GAVRYLO GLUK’S CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT)

Abstract

In recent years Ukrainian scientists have shown growing interest to the problem of formation of a national colorism school that has gained special importance in the period of Ukraine’s independence. At the times of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, creativity of Ukrainian colorists existed in conditions of political illusion of social realism with its orthodox requirements to promote the Soviet way of life. This socially-preconditioned specificity of the artistic climate limited the potential of creative choices, particularly topical. Thus, the independent way of the famous Transcarpathian painter Gavrylo Gluk (1912-1983) towards metaphorical generalizations of post-impressionism occurred under conditions of forced poverty of thematic repertoire.

The author aims to find out the art techniques through which Gavrylo Gluk managed to integrate the principles of post-impressionism colorism in plot area of social realism. In addressing this issue, the author clarifies the circumstances of Gavrylo Gluk's artistic biography, which ultimately determined the priorities for his future individual outlook. As demonstrated by the processing of the master's artistic legacy, thematic restrictions of creativity did not prevent the colorist from realizing his talent in due time. However, it forced the painter to resort to professional tricks and mask ideas of purely coloristic competence under the "guise" of social problems.

Research of Gavrylo Gluk's paintings dating to 1960-1980-s leads to a conclusion that the system of individual creative priorities in the area of composition was optimally realized in painting "The Evening" (1964) and "The Watchman" (1972). Studies in Hungary during 1926-1933 was of utmost importance for Gavrylo Gluk's professional growth. At the turn of the 19th-20th centuries reinvention of the local coloristic school took place in Hungarian artistic environment. During the 1870s, a group of Hungarian Impressionists was formed (Béla Iványi-Grünwald, István Csók, Károly Ferenczy, Pál Szinyei Merse, Simon Hollósy), and the circle of Hungarian post-Impressionists developed in the first decade of the 1900s (Adolf Fényes, Izsák Perlmutter, József Rippl-Rónai). A research of paintings from the collection of the Hungarian National Gallery confirms that the trends of the Hungarian colorism on the brink of the 19th-20th centuries made a tangible impression on Gavrylo Gluk's works.

The research findings show that the formal structure of Gavrylo Gluk's compositions was influenced by the approaches of József Koszta (1861–1949). The artist’s works from the collection of the Hungarian National Gallery "In the Field" (1904), "Before the Storm" (1909), "Cleaning the Grain" (1917) are built on the dominance of dramatic effects which the author realized through the use of light and tonal contrasts. To maximize the dramatic impression, the Hungarian artist used counter light. A comparison of compositionality principles in Gavrylo Gluk's works "The Evening" and "The Watchman" with the above paintings by József Koszta shows obvious parallels.

The analysis of Gavrylo Gluk’s compositions makes it possible to conclude that his creative growth was influenced by the leading trends of Hungarian painting on the brink of the 19th-20th centuries. The research of museum works dating back to 1870–1920 from the collection of the Hungarian National Gallery showed that Hungarian artists often associated the idea of asserting national colorism with folk themes (Adolf Fényes "Brothers", 1906; Károly Ferenczy "The Stableman", 1899; Sándor Nyilasi "In the Field", 1898; Simon Hollósy "Cleaning Corn", 1885). Folk themes were not realized by colorists in folk and genre focus, but were globalized to a scale of national events. While staying in the artistic environment of Hungary, the Ukrainian painter often saw paintings of Hungarian authors, where the image of simple peasants was idealized as a national hero archetype. The atmosphere of Soviet censorship has made adjustments to the work of the artist who dedicated eleven years of his life to Socialist Realism (1947-1958). However, after a period of social adaptation the artist chose his own path of personal development, helped by the historical changes of the Khrushchev "thaw".

Gavrylo Gluk’s desire to create symbolic archetypes channeled his attention to authentic carriers of Ukrainian tradition – peasants. In the circumstances of thematic constraints of Socialist Realism Gavrylo Gluk implemented his own ideas in prototypes of Soviet farmers, who remained ordinary peasants by nature – eternal owners of the Ukrainian land. This resulted in the assimilation of post-impressionism colorism with the plot area of social realism. Images of peasants naturally became part of Gavrylo Gluk's creative interests when he was still young and studied in Budapest. Under complicated historical circumstances, a compromise between the social demand and individual need found an unexpected escape at the intersection of the public and private coordinates, which became possible in the conditions of democratic renewal in 1660-s.