Information about the work
The painting Everyday Life of a Regimental Artist [Budni polkovoho khudozhnyka] (canvas, oil, 1983, transferred to the Khmelnytskyi Regional Art Museum collection by the Directorate of Art Exhibitions of the National Union of Artists of Ukraine in 1989) was created after the painter’s military service. In the Soviet Union, conscripted artists were routinely drafted into producing ideological posters, decorating military clubs, and drafting banners for state holidays—tasks that Hubskyi himself undoubtedly performed. Consequently, the canvas serves both as the author’s reflection on his conscription days in the Soviet armed forces and as a self-portrait.
The painter depicts an austere military workshop where he was expected to produce works in the spirit of Socialist Realism. Yet notably, the painting set inside the niche is by no means Socialist Realism, but European classicism: a reproduction or study of Dutch master Johannes Vermeer’s Woman Sitting at a Table. Pinned above it is a seascape sketch with a sunset—likely by the young artist’s own hand—which signals an homage to French Impressionism to art connoisseurs. In this veiled manner, Hubskyi speaks of his true artistic affinities in contrast to the Soviet propaganda he was forced to produce. Beside a primitive palette with red, black, and white paint, an anti-war poster draft lies on the table depicting a crossed-out bomb—a symbol of the hypocritical “peace crusade” waged by the militarily aggressive USSR.
In this exhibited work, the artist masterfully renders the textures of various materials—glass, fabric, and the wooden picture frame—skilfully laying shadows and nuancing the dominant grey-green palette. In doing so, he weaves a subtle narrative about his own identity as an artist navigating the era of Soviet ideological dominance.
Oil on canvas. 140 × 110.