YULII MYKOLAIOVYCH YATCHENKO (1928–2020). MEMORIES OF THE ARTIST [publication of the document

Abstract

Abstract. The article is a publication of the memories of Yulii Mykolaiovych Yatchenko, a Ukrainian painter, graduate of the Kyiv State Art Institute (KSAI), student of S. Hryhoriev, M. Sharonov, H. Melikhov, and K. Ieleva. Yulii Yatchenko dedicated almost his entire life to pedagogical and organizational work: Director of the Republican Art Secondary School named after T.H. Shevchenko, Professor of the Department of Drawing and Vice-Rector for scientific work of the KSAI, as well as he headed the Directorate of Art Exhibitions of the Ministry of Culture of the USSR. The manuscript work «Memories of the Artist» of Yulii Mykolaiovych Yatchenko was prepared by him for printing in 2014. The manuscript contains two parts: «Memories of the Artist. The Story» and «Work on the Images of Princes and Kings». Now the first part is published, in which the author recalls both his training at the KSAI (now — «the NAFAA») and the methods of work and education of the teachers; describes moments of the creative process over the painting «With the Dream of Peace. Rescuing Works of Dresden Art Gallery by Soviet Troops in 1945» (1959) and other major paintings; revives in memories trips to Dresden and communication with the management of the Dresden Gallery, visits of the Ukrainian delegation for culture to Portugal, creative trips to Lithuania and Latvia, stay in Sedniv and Kanev; as if relives the pleasant moments associated with personal exhibitions in the halls of the National Academy of Fine Arts and Architecture. Yulii Yatchenko also draws attention to the issues of pedagogy, drawing teaching methods, reflects on the needs of creative youth. Finally, the author dives into his childhood memories, verbally describing his family and his ancestors. The feature of «Memories of the Artist» of Yulii Yatchenko is the absence of a rigid chronology and informality of presentation; the artist wrote down his own memories in the sequence in which they surfaced in his memory. After reading the «Memories», there is a feeling of personal communication with Yulii Mykolaiovych Yatchenko. The publication is a unique original testimony of the artist, a representative of that generation, whose creative path began in the difficult postwar period, in times of severe ideological constraints. The material of his memories is useful for teachers, graduate and undergraduate students, as well as connoisseurs of art in general and the creativity of Yulii Mykolaiovych Yatchenko in particular.