Our museum continues the “Cheers!” project, launched last year to honor artists celebrating anniversaries whose works are held in our collection. The KhRAM collection is a unique and integral part of Ukraine’s cultural heritage. Its study, preservation, and promotion are our strategically vital mission—especially in times of war, when we fight for our freedom and identity.

“Zenovii Flinta affirms the harmony of human life and nature in all their drama and grandeur with unwavering skill and consistency. His works prompt deep reflection on the beauty and mystery of life’s transience, inspiring a state of soulful elevation. The artist often repeated: ‘It’s important that things and the world promise us something new.’” — Iryna Hrytsevych, researcher.

Zenovii Flinta never waited for inspiration—he worked constantly. Regardless of location or circumstance, he always had a folder with paper, pencils, or a ballpoint pen at hand. If a day passed without creating anything, he considered it wasted. When illness affected his right hand, he began training his left to hold a brush. This incredible diligence, his deep understanding of harmony between humanity and nature, his love for his native land and culture, and his awareness of being Ukrainian were instilled from early childhood. He grew up in a village where children were nurtured in the national spirit, and where education and culture were cherished. Flinta often heard elders recall how Andrei Sheptytskyi (1865–1944)—a prominent Ukrainian public figure, head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, and distinguished patron—once said: “There is no better city in Halychyna than Lviv, and no better village than Toky.” The village of Toky, renowned for its weaving, Prosvita reading hall, People’s House, embroidery, and pysanky, likely played a decisive role in the young Zenovii’s choice of profession. In Lviv, Flinta not only became a trained artist but emerged as a master whose works rival the finest examples of European art.

Zenovii Flinta belonged to a cohort of students who did not conform to the officially sanctioned method of socialist realism in the USSR. His artistic formation was profoundly shaped by renowned artists and educators Roman Selskyi and Karlo Zvirynskyi. Under the watchful eyes and ears of totalitarian censorship, Zvirynskyi selected morally upright youth for his informal “School,” where students explored contemporary global art trends, exchanged ideas, studied history, and shared their work. Among them were Zenovii Flinta, Ivan Marchuk, Petro Markovych, Oleh Min’ko, Roman Petruk, and others. KhRAM is proud to house works by these artists in its collection. Zvirynskyi’s “School” was not the only influential circle—meetings at the home of Roman and Margit Selskyi, founders of the Lviv school, were equally formative. Remaining faithful to the teachings of his great mentors, Flinta found his own unique voice in art.

The artist’s interests spanned ceramics, glass, painting, and graphics. His oeuvre includes portraits, still lifes, landscapes, ceramic compositions, plates, and decorative panels. Flinta’s work is a continuous search for expressive, concise form, refined techniques, harmony, and color solutions. Tirelessly honing his craft, he developed a distinctive style rooted in the synthesis of Ukrainian folk art, the traditions of the Lviv school, and the best examples of European modernist painting.

Zenovii Flinta (September 1, 1935, Toky village, Ternopil region – April 2, 1988, Lviv). Ceramic artist, painter, graphic artist, educator.

1959 – Graduated from the Ivan Trush College of Applied and Decorative Arts in Lviv, Department of Decorative Painting.

Since 1961 – Participant in art exhibitions.

1965 – Graduated from the Lviv State Institute of Applied and Decorative Arts, Department of Ceramics. Teachers: Roman Selskyi, Karlo Zvirynskyi, Taras Porozhniak.

1968 – Internship at art academies in Warsaw, Kraków, and Wrocław.

1965–1976 – Lecturer in composition and ceramics at the Lviv State Institute of Applied and Decorative Arts.

1971 – Head of the Decorative and Applied Arts Section of the Lviv branch of the Union of Artists of the Ukrainian SSR.

Since 1973 – Participant in international exhibitions.

1973 – Participant in the International Ceramics Biennale in Faenza, Italy.

1974 – Participant in the International Ceramics Biennale in Vallauris, France.

1988 – Honored Artist of Ukraine.

1995 – The Zenovii Flinta Regional Art Prize was established, paving the way for various awards in decorative and applied arts bearing his name.

Karlo Zvirynskyi (August 14, 1923, Lavriv village, Lviv region – October 8, 1997, Lviv). Painter, graphic artist, educator.

1942–1943 – Studied at the Lviv Art and Industrial School.

1953 – Graduated from the Lviv Institute of Applied and Decorative Arts. Teacher: Roman Selskyi.

1949–1950 – Expelled for a year for “disrespect toward socialist realism” and “manifestations of bourgeois nationalism and formalism.”

Since 1953 – Participant in city exhibitions.

1953–1959 – Taught painting at the Ivan Trush College of Applied and Decorative Arts.

1959–1982 – Senior lecturer in painting at the Lviv Institute of Decorative and Applied Arts.

1982 – Dismissed for political reasons one year before retirement.

1988–1989, 1993–1997 – Invited by rector Emmanuil Mysko to serve as professor of monumental painting.

1992–1995 – Taught at the St. Luke Icon Painting School at the Studite Fathers’ Monastery in Lviv.

1995 – First solo exhibition in Lviv, including at KhRAM.

1997 – Professor of Sacred Art at the Lviv Academy of Arts.

Since 1997 – Honored Art Worker of Ukraine.

Zvirynskyi was persecuted for resisting the totalitarian regime, and his work was long unrecognized. In the 1950s, he turned to conceptual art, addressing universal themes—life and death, the earthly and the spiritual. Grounded in objective reality, he leaned toward abstract-associative thinking. His works include landscapes, appliqués, still lifes, abstract compositions (tempera, oil, relief, appliqué), book illustrations, ex libris, monotypes, and linocuts. From the 1950s to the 1990s, he painted churches in the Lviv region. In 1960, he founded an informal art school (later known as “Zvirynskyi’s Underground School”) to cultivate a new generation of artists capable of sustaining the full development of national culture. He emphasized the study of global cultural achievements and the growth of national consciousness. He authored scholarly works on painting methodology, church art, art education, and aesthetic upbringing.