Biography
Anatoliy Dmytrovych Kryvolap (b. 1946, Yahotyn, Kyiv region) is a painter and monumental artist. Husband of the artist Zinaida Vasina; father of the artist Hanna Kryvolap.
1976 – Graduated from the Kyiv State Art Institute.
From 1976 – Participant in art exhibitions.
1990 – Member of the National Union of Artists of Ukraine.
1991 – Member of the Zhyvopysnyi Zapovidnyk [Artistic Preserve] art group.
2012 – Laureate of the Taras Shevchenko National Prize of Ukraine.
2016 – Member of the Taras Shevchenko National Prize Committee of Ukraine.
2017 – Corresponding Member of the National Academy of Arts of Ukraine.
2025 – Awarded the distinction of the President of Ukraine “National Legend of Ukraine”.
Lives and works in Kyiv.
“Creativity for A. Kryvolap is a magical process of self-immersion and self-arousal through color. ‘This restlessness,’ says the artist, ‘generates energy within me. I yield it to the composition.’ It is a unique meditation—living out one’s own biography with a brush in hand. The artist has no other biography, nor does he wish for one. His entire life is spent within active color; it is color that dictates the nature of Kryvolap’s relationship with the world. ‘Striped, textured rhythms are my plastic language,’ the author declares. Because his perspective on the world is shaped by color, it unquestionably impacts the viewer. In every composition, one senses a masculine willpower applied to form—in the constant refrain of a single motif where the rational merges with the profound and archetypal. Kryvolap’s vision of the world is semantically linked to primordial childhood. As if sprouting from the subconscious, the artist’s dialogue with paint accumulates like a powerful wave,” writes art historian Olha Petrova.
Anatoliy Kryvolap’s search for his own path in art began in the 1960s and continued at the Kyiv State Art Institute. Although his works were exhibited at the republic level, he never stopped experimenting, secluding himself in his studio for 10–12 years to persistently conjure with color. The artist asserts that “color is an extraordinarily potent force. It can create mood, drama, and convey psychological states. It is incredible. Granted, it was not easy for me to grasp how pure paints could create what I dreamed of—what was happening in my feelings. Every person has their own color. If you seat someone in a blue, red, black, or white room, they will feel the power of color. And if that color is not theirs, they will try to leave as quickly as possible. Combinations of colors create a diversity of feelings—not merely everyday ones, but far deeper. One must dive deep into oneself, into the subconscious or even the unconscious, to retrieve something truly unique. And color provides that very opportunity. Just like music.”
