Information about the work
The photorealistic triptych Electric Train at 20:20 [Elektrychka o 20.20] (canvas on cardboard, tempera, 1985, acquired for the Khmelnytskyi Regional Art Museum collection from the author in 1988) impresses with the perfection of its drawing, the refinement of painterly execution, and an exquisite palette of gray and brown tones. Brushstrokes—both compact and delicate—leave the canvas almost untouched in some places, yielding a smooth painterly surface. Notably, gray dominates the left panel of the triptych, its proportion decreases in the central panel, and brown prevails on the right. In each instance, color corresponds to a specific metaphor.
In the triptych, the artist depicts three figures of different ages. What is human life? A journey? Here is its beginning: the figure of a boy against the backdrop of a conventional, desolate landscape. If this is so, why does achromatic gray predominate? The central painting depicts a young man, and accordingly, more brown color appears, which likely symbolizes a portion of the life journey traveled. But what does the number “9” on his T-shirt signify? Perhaps it is a symbol that life is a kind of game, or perhaps it represents the nine circles of hell that a person must traverse. It is quite possible that it is simply a number. The right panel symbolizes the completion of the life cycle, the end of the road. Thus, an elderly man burdened with experience is depicted, whose focused gaze—unlike the two previous figures—is directed not upward, but downward. This symbolism is reinforced by a darker color palette.
The artist is convinced: “In order to express one’s emotions, it is not at all necessary to make melodramatic gestures and tear one’s shirt. On the contrary: the more sparingly passion reveals itself, the more powerful its effect. Restrained, bound in the discipline of realistic form, or mystified in ironical grotesque, it appeals to me more.”
Canvas on cardboard, tempera. 55 × 55
