Our museum continues the project “Cheers!,” which was launched last year and is dedicated to artists celebrating anniversaries whose works are preserved in our collection. The KhRAM collection is a unique and integral part of Ukraine’s cultural heritage. Its research, preservation, and promotion are our strategically important mission, especially in times of war for our freedom and identity.

“The picture of Trokhymenko would not be complete without mentioning a very characteristic feature of his work. He defines his ideological and aesthetic credo as a realist artist as follows: ‘Every painting, every sketch must combine aesthetic and cognitive functions. The master achieves this primarily through compositional means, in particular through the rhythmic spatial structure of his works. He strives to reveal all the planes of the painting as carefully as possible, thus illuminating the event from all sides.” Leonid Vladych, art critic.

“Regardless of the content, the master finds the most characteristic details for the image, creates an optimistic picture of the action, sometimes rising to epic generalization. Such features are also found in lyrical, pensive, sunny, and joyful landscapes.” Nina Saienko, artist, art historian.

“Karpo Trokhymenko paid close attention to issues related to the organization of the educational process, in particular to improving the teaching methods of professional disciplines at the Kyiv Art Institute. He was demanding when it came to the structure of academic productions, striving to ensure that they were not only interesting in terms of their visual appeal and content, but also had a distinctive national flavor.” Vasyl Shcherbak, art historian. 

“When you recall all the facts of Karpo Demyanovich Trokhymenko’s life and work, you see what a wonderful person he was. He was so modest, honest, wise, and had a genuine love for the people, for art, and for work. He always followed the path of greatest resistance in everything he did.” He always followed the path of greatest resistance in everything he did.” Tetiana Yablonska, artist.

Karpo Trokhymenko’s creative interests were extremely broad, ranging from lyrical Ukrainian landscapes, historical paintings, and works dedicated to the life and work of Taras Shevchenko and Hryhorii Skovoroda, to depictions of ordinary workers and psychological portraits of his contemporaries, including musicians, artists, peasants, and workers. The artist lived during the era of socialist realism, of which he was a sincere supporter throughout his creative life. He authored art history studies on Ukrainian portrait painting, articles on Oleksandr Murashko and Illia Ripin, and research on the theory and history of Ukrainian and European fine arts. He sought to build a theoretical foundation that would confirm the continuity of the traditions of realism for the artistic method of socialist realism.

The exhibition features two landscapes that, at first glance, appear simple in their motifs. But the more you look at Winter Evening in Kyiv, the more you are captivated by the panoramic nature of the landscape, its silent grandeur, and the painter’s skill. The artist demonstrates a clear alternation of planes that emphasize the depth of space and a virtuoso mastery of the technique of reproducing sunlight on canvas: it is no wonder that he was called “the poet of sunny days and enchanted corners of beautiful nature.”

“Kyiv Harbor” is one of those works by Karpo Trokhymenko about which his teacher Mykola Samokysh said: “His specialty will be a matter of debate in the history of Ukrainian art. Who is he—a battle painter, a landscape painter, or a genre painter? However, which group he belongs to is not so important in the end. I prefer him as a landscape painter who knows how to enrich nature with the presence of nature’s crown — man.”

Today, these paintings have not only artistic but also historical value, as they allow us to see through the artist’s eyes what Kyiv looked like after its liberation from occupation during World War II. The works immerse us in the atmosphere of that difficult period and allow us to delve into the historical past of our indomitable capital.

REFERENCE:

KARPO TROKHYMENKO
(October 25, 1885, village of Sushchany, Kyiv region – October 1, 1979, Kyiv) – painter, art historian, teacher.
1902–1910 – studied with a break at the Kyiv Art School.
1910–1916 – studied at the Higher Art School at the Leningrad Academy of Arts (teacher – Mykola Samokysh).
From 1918 – participant in art exhibitions.
1926–1933 – teacher at the Kyiv Art School.
1926–1931 – member of the Association of Artists of Red Ukraine.
1933–1974 – teacher at the Kyiv Art Institute (now the National Academy of Fine Arts and Architecture), from 1939 – professor of the Department of Painting.
1944 – People’s Artist of the Ukrainian SSR.
1968 – solo exhibition in Kyiv.
1969 – Taras Shevchenko State Prize of Ukraine (for creating paintings and illustrations on Shevchenko themes, for a series of paintings and graphic works, and for the cycle of paintings “My Native Motherland”).
The Kharkiv Regional Art Museum collection contains nine works by the artist: eight paintings and one graphic work.
The collection also includes works by Karpo Trokhymenko’s students, some of whom became staunch supporters of socialist realism, while others became supporters of “quiet resistance” and underground movements, including: Vira Barynova-Kuleba, Volodymyr Melnychenko, Viktor Ryzhykh, Heorhii Cherniavskyi, Mykhailo Khmelko, Valentyn Reunov, Vladyslav Mamsykov, Vasyl Huryn, and Vasyl Zabashta.

OLEKSANDR SKOBLIKOV
(February 25, 1929, Druzhkivka, Donetsk Oblast – January 29, 2005, Kyiv) – sculptor, public and political figure.
1954 – graduated from the Kyiv Art Institute, workshop of Mykhailo Lysenko.
From 1955 – participated in art exhibitions.
1970 – Honored Artist of the Ukrainian SSR.
1971 – Order of Merit for Polish Culture, Poland.
1972 – O. Ostrovsky Prize.
1975–1980 – Head of the Kyiv Organization of the Union of Artists of Ukraine.
1981–1983 – Head of the Union of Artists of Ukraine.
1976 – People’s Artist of Ukraine.
1978–1980 – Deputy of the Kyiv City Council.
1979–1984 – Deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR.
2000 – Corresponding Member of the Academy of Arts of Ukraine.
He worked in a realistic manner in the fields of monumental, easel, and memorial sculpture. He was the author of portraits, monuments, memorial plaques, small sculptures, anniversary medals, and commemorative signs of the Soviet period, most of which had an ideological and propaganda component. His works are distinguished by their technical mastery and striking resemblance to the characters depicted. In his sculptural portraits, the monumentality of plastic thinking and the ability to make significant generalizations are combined with the talent of a subtle psychologist, which contributes to the disclosure of individuality.
The Kharkiv Art Museum of Applied Arts and Decorative Arts has two sculptures by the artist in its collection.