Creative Activity of V. Hegamyan in the Context of the Development of the Odesa School of Painting

Abstract

The purpose of the work is to investigate the key events of the creative life and activity of the Odesa artist of Armenian origin V. Hegamyan, whose creative output left a noticeable mark in the development of the Odesa school of painting in the second half of the 20th – beginning of the 21st centuries. The research methodology is based on the application of methods of analysis, synthesis, art history, historical-chronological approach, which made it possible to find out the substantiated results of the research. The scientific novelty of the work consists in deepening and systematising the study of the work of the famous Ukrainian artist V. Hegamyan in the context of the development of the Odesa glass painting. Conclusions. The work determined that starting from the 1960s, due to the relocation to Odesa, a new stage began in V. Hegamyan’s creative period, which was determined by the new cultural and artistic environment and the creative searches carried out by the artists of that time. The artistic dominants of V. Hegamyan's works were determined by the artist's inherent monumentalism, traditional colour scheme and characteristic plot, composition, and imagery. Over the decades, having absorbed the main trends of the Odesa school of painting, V. Hegamyan formed his own artistic style in art, which consisted of a combination of graphic, pictorial, and monumental techniques. Being at the intersection of Armenian and Ukrainian cultures, V. Hegamyan's works clearly trace the appeal to ethnic, archaic motifs, symbolism, which created a special mythopoetics of his works, imposing double or even triple meanings on them. At the same time, V. Hegamyan's creative life was closely intertwined with his teaching activities; he was the founder of the graphics department at the Odesa pedagogical institute. He brought up a whole pleiad of artists who later became famous not only in Odesa, but also in Ukraine: such famous artists as V. Volkov, V. Zakharchenko, S. Lykov, O. Nedoshytko, Ye. Rakhmanin, V. Riabchenko, O. Roitburd, A. Furlet and others. Thanks to his creative and pedagogical activity, V. Hegamyan wrote a bright page in modern Ukrainian fine art as an original artist who formed a unique system of artistic imagery.

Keywords: V. Hegamyan, Odesa school of painting, nonconformism, stylistic trends, artistic and cultural life, intersection of cultures, regional specificity, art, artist's creativity.