Biography
Yuriy Ivanovych Malyshevskyi (1933, Kyiv – 1992, Kyiv) was a painter and graphic artist. Father of artists Alina and Ivan Malyshevskyi.
1957 – Graduated from the Kyiv Art Institute, studying under Oleksiy Shovkunenko, Viktor Puzyrkov, Mykhailo Khmelko, and Hennadiy Titov.
From 1957 – Active participant in art exhibitions.
From late 1960s – Member of the National Union of Artists of Ukraine.
1965 – Creative workshops at the USSR Academy of Arts in Kyiv, studying under Serhiy Hryhoriev and Mykhailo Derehus.
2019 – Works featured in the exhibition Family Album: S.O. Hryhoriev and His Creative Family at the Private Museum of Contemporary Art of Ukraine, Kyiv.
Lived and worked in Kyiv.
In his early career, Yuriy Malyshevskyi worked primarily in a realistic manner, later experimenting under the influence of Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, Art Nouveau (Secession), and Expressionism. As researcher Eduard Ovcharenko notes: “Yuriy Malyshevskyi was an artist whose free, broad, and bold style captivated viewers through its clarity and drive in solving painterly challenges.”
Malyshevskyi was closely connected to the artistic circle of the Hryhoriev family.
“Thanks to the master’s daughters, outstanding artists entered the family—Oleksa Zakharchuk (1929–2013), Marian Saveliev (1932–2013), Oleksandr Ahafonov (b. 1947), Yuriy Malyshevskyi (1933–1992), and Viktor Zaretskyi (1925–1990). These prominent masters were united by art—their beloved craft and the meaning of their lives. Immersing oneself in their works reveals their extraordinary inner worlds, depth, and mastery. Each of them deserves an independent study,” reads an excerpt from the exhibition text for Family Album: S.O. Hryhoriev and His Creative Family.
The central theme of Malyshevskyi’s oeuvre was his native Kyiv. The artist skillfully captured cityscapes and the architectural character of Ukraine’s capital. He was equally drawn to the lives of ordinary people and the unique beauty of nature. In his watercolors, he placed great emphasis on palette transparency, melodic linework, and the interplay of light and shadow. He was also known to work in etching, pastel, sanguine, gouache, and pencil. In 1991, he created two profoundly poignant paintings focused on reclaiming historical memory: Babyn Yar and Ivan Mazepa.
Regrettably, Malyshevskyi’s name recently resurfaced in the news under tragic circumstances: among the thousands of works looted by Russian forces from the Kherson Art Museum in 2022 was his painting Girl (oil on canvas, 1970).
