Features of the avant-garde directions of European modernism during 1900–1910 in the Ukrainian avant-garde

Abstract

During 1900–1910, there was a process of intensive cooperation and mutual enrichment between artists in Western European artistic centers and representatives of the Ukrainian and Russian avant-garde. At the same time, the avant-garde, both in Europe and in the territory of the Russian Empire, forms its own face and features that are reflected in the specificity of the artistic expression of specific groups and trends. The art of the 1900–1910 became a turning point in the history of avant-garde in Europe and in the Ukrainian lands, finally affirming the irreversibility of the phenomenon of avant-gardism. The avant-garde movements evolved rapidly during the period from 1900 to 1930, however, despite certain differences in manifestations, the revolutionary gains of cubism, expressionism and futurism became the foundation of the entire Ukrainian avant-garde. The publication, using examples of cubism, futurism and expressionism, which, deriving from European centers, laid the foundation for the artistic expression of the Ukrainian, as well as Russian avant-garde – cubofuturism, suprematism, constructivism, scrutinizes the features of the avant-garde on Ukrainian territories in the European context. For the first time, it is focused on the differences between the manifestations of Cubism, Futurism, and expressionism in the Ukrainian and European avant-garde. There is a lack of formed groups and program documents of cubism, futurism, and expressionism in the Ukrainian fine art of the 1900-1910, with absolute domination of these areas of artistic expression and formulation. It focuses on the specific manifestations of the Ukrainian and Russian avant-garde that emerged on their base, as well as on the specific manifestation of the Ukrainian avant-garde, the neoprimitivism, which includes the school of Mykhailo Boichuk. The publication emphasizes the importance of suprematism in the Ukrainian avant-garde as a classical avant-garde movement, which had such distinct features as breaking with tradition and well-formed ideological principles outlined in the program documents, which was generally not typical for the Ukrainian avant-garde in the fine arts. As it is known, even the ideological foundations of cubofuturism were not clearly formed by its representatives, Oleksandr Bohomazov and Oleksandra Ekster. It is possible to speak of a formed and declared platform only with respect to the Ukrainian literary avant-garde, where it were the futurists who most clearly positioned themselves.