Ladislav Trakal’s Art and Crafts Workshop of Decorative Painting in Kharkiv (1899–1921)

Abstract

The article attempts to outline the activities of Kharkiv art and crafts workshop of decorative painting, headed by a Czech creator Ladislav Trakal in 1899. The introduction of some new archival documents into scientific circulation showed that there was a close connection between the pedagogical system of Rayevska‑Ivanova’s school, founded in 1869, and Trakal’s decorative‑handicraft workshop. The 4‑year industrial art school in Prague, which Trakal graduated from in 1896, did not have the status of a higher art institution at that period of time. When Trakal arrived in Kharkiv and headed the decorative‑handicraft workshop, which was housed in an edifice that Colonel Borodaevsky devised to Kharkiv Society for the Dissemination of Literacy, Trakal got on a well‑worked ground, which was prepared by Rayevska‑Ivanova. In 1869 this outstanding person, the first woman‑artist with a European level education and a diploma from St. Petersburg Academy of Arts in Russian Empire, founded an industrial art school in Kharkiv. Later, in 1896 she was forced to leave teaching at her school due to a complete loss of vision. However, the need for specialists of this profile did not disappear. Kharkiv was experiencing a real construction boom, and decorators, one of whom Trakal was, were in great demand. Although Trakal’s workshop did not become as multidisciplinary as Raevska‑Ivanova’s school, it used a lot of the pedagogical system developed by the founder of industrial art education in Kharkiv, to its advantage. Trakal’s workshop gave its students an initial industrial art education, prepared them for the activity in decorative painting. Unlike Rayevska-Ivanova who taught free of charge in her private school for more than 27 years, trying to lay solid foundation of industrial art education in Kharkiv, Trakal turned out to be a rather enterprising person. He successfully completed highly paid orders for the decoration of buildings in Kharkiv and also opened his own private studio. Having a good command of Russian, Trakal easily entered Kharkiv’s artistic life. He actively participated in exhibitions, where he showed his paintings, made in the Art Nouveau Style with an enhanced symbolist sound. However, the question remains about how bright and original this artist was in comparison with artists from other Ukrainian cities (M. Zhuk, Yu. Mykhailiv, M. Sapozhnikov). Similarly, the contribution of other art institutions to the development of some of Trakal’s students who eventually became famous masters, also requires further studying.