Architectural Landscape in the Watercolour Heritage of Yurii Khymych: Documentation and artistic Interpretation

Abstract

The purpose of the study is to identify the features of the architectural landscape in the watercolour heritage of Yurii Khymych by analysing the traditional sources of the genre, the level of documentary quality of the images, and the specifics of the artistic interpretation of urban space. Research methodology. A complex of art history methods was used, in particular: formal and stylistic analysis to study the composition and colouristics of watercolours; iconographic approach for the interpretation of architectural motifs; historical and cultural method for examining works in the context of the development of Ukrainian art. The scientific novelty consists in the comprehensive examination of the architectural landscape in the watercolour work of Y. Khymych as a synthesis of artistic interpretation and historical-documentary visualisation, outlining the artist’s contribution to the development of the Ukrainian watercolour school. Conclusions. Architectural landscape in Ukrainian painting is a syncretic genre that combines documentary recording of architectural forms with artistic interpretation of space, light, and atmosphere. The tradition of the architectural landscape in Ukraine is based on the fixation of monuments of history and architecture, which form a cultural and historical layer, which is valuable for art critics, historians and artists. Yurii Khymych’s work demonstrates that an architectural landscape can combine the accuracy of documentary recording with artistic expressiveness. Khymych’s watercolours convey not only architectural details, but also the historical, cultural and emotional context of urban environments. The peculiarity of Y. Khymych’s watercolour heritage is the synthesis of the realistic tradition with impressionistic freedom of brushwork and subtle colour sense, which allows creating ‘live’ images of urban landscapes, where architecture appears as a symbol of time, culture and national memory. The architectural landscape of Y. Khymych performs not only an artistic, but also a cultural and protective function: his watercolours preserve the appearance of buildings that were later rebuilt or destroyed, forming a visual archive of Ukrainian cultural heritage. Therefore, the architectural landscape in the work of Y. Khymych is a multidimensional phenomenon that combines documentary, aesthetic artistic interpretation and historical significance, providing a bridge between art, memory and national identity.