Information about the work
Both works in the exposition, created during the Sedniv open-air sessions, are stylistically unified and function as a diptych. Their subject matter invites philosophical contemplation on the nature of existence, evoking associations with dawn and nocturnal or twilight horizons, watery depths, mist-shrouded fields, or the steppe. In the foreground of Sedniv. Night [Sedniv. Nitch] (oil on canvas, 1988; acquired for the Sumy Regional Art Museum collection in 1988), stylized depictions of houses with red roofs appear within a nocturnal landscape. Deep, dark tones dominate the composition—black and rich navy—evoking a sense of nocturnal expanse, silence, and underlying disquiet. A blue-and-azure horizontal band in the upper portion recalls a skyline or distant horizon, adding spatial depth to the work. Dark masses below read as silhouettes or generalized forms reminiscent of an urban environment. The red accents of the rooftops play a crucial role: contrasting sharply with the dark background, they generate dynamic tension and act as fragments illuminated, perhaps, by reflections of moonlight in the dark.
The canvas’s horizontal arrangement creates a feeling of vast, sprawling space and a serene yet tense stillness. At the same time, the asymmetrical placement of the red elements disrupts equilibrium, imparting an internal motion to the image. The surface texture adds tactile materiality and reinforces the illusion of depth, as if one were peering through a humid, mist-laden atmosphere. This evokes associations with sudden memories or contemplative moments experienced while observing landscape space across different dimensions of time.
Both landscapes read as an emotional, abstract panorama of nocturnal and morning terrain where tranquility meets disquiet, conveying a state of peacefulness, intense focus, and deep melancholy. The contrast between light and dark symbolizes a threshold—a transition between day and night, the conscious and the subconscious. Exhibiting traits of Abstract Expressionism, these works align with movements that prioritize mood and atmosphere over concrete objects. Restrained yet profound in meaning, the compositions are constructed on subtle color nuances and a refined sense of space. They function as a visual meditation, lifting the veil for personal impressions and an intimate emotional response. It is precisely when the planes of “sky” and “earth” converge that the artistic image begins to exist as pure association, free from rigid boundaries of perception.
