Monumental Painting Research Articles

On the historical realities of Constantinople in Byzantine iconography of the Akathistos of the Virgin

The historical and topographical realities of Constantinople, its numerous sieges from the Golden Horn, as well as religious processions and venerated icons of the Virgin influenced the iconography of the Akathistos Hymn to the Holy Theotokos. The local of some narrative episodes as if moves from the Holy Land to the capital of the Byzantine Empire in relation with the reproduction of the realities of Constantinople, which invade the context of the Hymn to the Holy Theotokos and its iconographic interpretation. However, if processions with icons and the sieges of the Byzantine capital in the iconography of Akathistos are relatively well investigated in the scientific literature, then the reflection of the architecture and topography of the Blachernae shrine is known far less. Our article is devoted just to this topic. In many iconographic cycles of the Akathistos to the Holy Theotokos (in monumental paintings, icons and manuscripts) architectural backgrounds may correlate with the complex of the Blachernae shrine and the fortifications of Constantinople. The whole series of medieval manuscripts and icons contains images of the Blachernae churches of various degrees of authenticity. Researchers also proposed modern reconstructions of the Blachernae shrine based on medieval images and written sources. These materials help our iconographic analysis.

To the Iconography of the Saint Warrior Horseman in the Byzantine Sphragistics of the 12th – 13th Centuries. Saint Demetrios of Thessalonika

Introduction. The images of holy warriors were extremely popular in the art of Byzantium and the countries of the Byzantine cultural circle of the 11th – 14th centuries. They are known for numerous images in iconography, monumental painting, applied art. They are numerous in sphragistics. The image of a warrior horseman best known for the early 13th century monuments is the rarest and most recent formation. Introducing new sigilographic monuments into the scientific circulation and determining the time of appearance of this iconographic type on their basis are among the main goals of the proposed research. Methods. The methodological basis of the study is an interdisciplinary integrated approach that involves using methods of the comparative analysis of sfragistics, numismatic and other categories of monuments. Analysis. Two seals are kept in the State Hermitage Museum collection. Both sides of the first seal (M-12374) have the depiction of Saint Demetrios of Thessaloniki as a horseman triumphant. On the left, under the cloak, there is the inscription ΟΔΗ. that, apparently, can be revealed as Ὁ (ἅγιος) Δη(μήτριος). On the other side of the seal there is a full-length image of Saint Stephanos with a censer and pyxis in his hands. On the front side of the second seal (M-3751) there is the same image of Saint Demetrios of Thessaloniki with a similar inscription. On the reverse side of the seal there is the inscription “Defender, look at me, your slave Christopher”. Results. The images of Saint Demetrios of Thessaloniki on both seals are almost identical, which implies the existence of a common prototype, most likely an honored icon. We can assume that it was in Thessaloniki in the Basilica of Saint Demetrios. Probably, the image of the warrior triumphant is the latest version of the iconography of saint warrior and it is known for the few monuments of the late 11th – 12th centuries. As a result, both seals can be dated to the same time.

Malarska „dwujęzyczność” Jerzego Nowosielskiego. Związki między abstrakcją a ikoną w monumentalnych projektach sakralnych

The sacred art of Jerzy Nowosielski, an outstanding Polish painter of the second half of the 20th century, is an example of the creative continuation of the Byzantine tradition in Poland, but also an embodiment of the debate with the painting tradition of the East and with the experience of the Church. Both in theory and in painting practice, the artist redefined the concept of the icon, attempting to expand its formula so that it not only spoke of the Kingdom, but also included the image of the earthly, imperfect reality of the pilgrim Church. In his designs of sacred interiors for churches of various Christian denominations, Nowosielski wanted to combine three theological disciplines and their respective ways of representation: Christology, sophiology and angelology. Beside a classical icon, called by the painter a “Christological- Chalcedonian” icon, Nowosielski demanded a “sophiological” icon, bringing into the space of a church an earthly, painful reality, traces of inner struggle and doubt – hence the presence of doloristic motifs in his icons. The “inspired geometry” also became a complement to the holy images; the artist noticed a huge spiritual potential in abstract painting, to which he eventually assigned the role of icon painting. The poetic concept of “subtle bodies” – abstract angels testifying to the reality of the spiritual world – drew from the early Christian theological thought, which argued about the corporeality of spiritual entities, from Byzantine angelology, the tradition of theosophy and occultism, but also from the art of the first avant-garde, especially that from Eastern Europe, which inherited the Orthodox cult of the image. Nowosielski’s bilingualism as a painter – practicing abstraction and figuration in tandem, including within the church – paralleled the liturgical practice of many religious communities using different languages to express different levels of reality: human affairs and divine affairs. The tradition of apophatic theology, proclaiming the truth about the “unrepresentability” of God, was also important in shaping Nowosielski’s ideas. For Nowosielski’s monumental art, the problem of the mutual relationship between painting and architecture proved crucial. The artist based his concept on the decisive domination of painting over architecture and the independence of monumental painting. His goal was the principle of creating a sacred interior as a holistic, comprehensive vision of space which leads the participants of liturgy “out of everyday life” and into a different, transcendent dimension, in which the painter saw the main purpose of sacred art. From his first projects from the 1950s till the end of his artistic practice Nowosielski tried to realize his own dream version of the “ideal church”. In many of his projects he introduced abstraction into the temple, covering the walls, vaults, presbyteries, sometimes even the floors with a network of triangular “subtle bodies”. Forced to compromise, he introduced sacred abstraction into murals, as accompanying geometries, or into stained glass windows. The interiors, comprehensively and meticulously planned, were supposed to create the effect of “passing through”, “rending the veil” – from behind which a new, heavenly reality dawned. In practice, it was not always possible to achieve this intention, but the artist’s aim was to create an impression of visual unity, a sense of “entering the painting”, of being immersed in the element of painting. Painting in space was supposed to unite a broken world, to combine physical and spiritual reality into an integral whole. When designing sacred interiors, Nowosielski used the sanctity of the icon, but also the pure qualities of painting which were to cause a “mystical feeling of God’s reality”. The aim of sacred art understood in such a way turned out to be initiation rather than teaching. In this shift of emphasis Nowosielski saw the only chance for the revival of sacred art, postulating even a shift of the burden of evangelization from verbal teaching to the work of charismatic art.

Transformation of the Nemanichi’s ideology in the monuments of the Milutin era (1282–1321) in the conquered Macedonian territories

This article is devoted to the problem of the influence of ideological attitudes on the iconographic programs of the medieval Macedonian monuments at the end of the 13th – the first quarter of the 14th century. This period is associated with the reign of the Serbian king Milutin (1282–1321), who conquered a number of Macedonian territories from Byzantium and married the daughter of the Byzantine emperor Andronicus II Palaeologus (1282–1328). Close kinship with the imperial family and Milutin’s active policy towards Byzantium become the key factors for the reorientation of Serbian ideology from a national platform to an imperial one.This article is devoted to the problem of the influence of ideological attitudes on the iconographic programs of the medieval Macedonian monuments at the end of the 13th – the first quarter of the 14th century. This period is associated with the reign of the Serbian king Milutin (1282–1321), who conquered a number of Macedonian territories from Byzantium and married the daughter of the Byzantine emperor Andronicus II Palaeologus (1282–1328). Close kinship with the imperial family and Milutin’s active policy towards Byzantium become the key factors for the reorientation of Serbian ideology from a national platform to an imperial one.The process of «byzantinization» affects all the areas of the life of the Serbian kingdom, including art. Establishing his presence in Macedonia, Milutin, with the help of the Greek masters, actively builds and restores churches, rebuilds the Greek buildings and invites the Greek artists, Michael and Eutychios, belonging to the progressive artistic movement to paint churches. Thus, the architectural and pictorial ensembles of this time arise within the framework of the Byzantine artistic tradition and correspond to the main currents of the Byzantine art. Fresco paintings are created in accordance with the stylistic principles of the advanced trends of the Paleologian Renaissance and are replete with fresh iconographic solutions, new semantic accents and compositions. Good preservation of the most of Milutin’s monuments ensured close attention of the researchers. However, with a thorough study of the Byzantine traditions in the Serbian cultural paradigm, the fact of embedding national specifics into the Byzantine imperial theme remained unnoticed, as evidenced by a number of the iconographic features of the monumental paintings considered in this article.Keywords: imperial theme, iconography, medieval fresco painting, national specifics, Milutin, ideology of Nemanichi, Macedonia, Serbian Kingdom, art, cultural studies, cultura of Medieval Ages.

Ciklus Svetog Dimitrija u Pećkoj patrijaršiji - I

Ciklus Svetog Dimitrija u Pećkoj patrijaršiji - I

ОСОБЕННОСТИ АМЕРИКАНСКОГО ПЕРИОДА ТВОРЧЕСТВА ИКОНОПИСЦА П. М. СОФРОНОВА

The article for the first time gives an analysis of the work of the world famous, but little studied in Russia, Old Believer icon painter and restorer icons Pimen Maksimovich Sofronov in the third, American period. The author systematizes scattered information about his artistic activities in the United States, makes a chronology of the creation of his works during this period, and makes an analysis of them. The description of the temples where P.M. Sofronov worked, and the painting of their interiors, is given for the first time in scientific literature. Analyzing the biographical data and the work of the icon painter in the third, American period, which turned out to be the longest, the author of the article concludes that at this time the quality of the master's work is changing. Since, in Europe, P.M. Sofronov gained the experience of wall painting of churches, now, in North America, he was able to fully realize this side of his talent by making the transition from easel icon painting to monumental painting. Now the researcher's attention has been given to extensive temple complexes, often consisting of both stenographs and iconostases, which have their own specific program. The author interprets the canon in accordance with the architectural space that is provided to him for painting. Each time it is a new theological and artistic task. Having completed such major works as paintings of the interiors of Trinity Cathedral in Brooklyn, the Church of the Three Saints in Ansonia, the Church of Peter and Paul in Syracuse, the Vladimir Church in Trenton, St. Trinity in Weinland, the artist made a significant contribution to the church art of Russian emigration.

К ИСТОРИИ ФОРМИРОВАНИЯ ИКОНОГРАФИИ СТАМБУЛА В АЗЕРБАЙДЖАНСКОЙ ЖИВОПИСИ

In the visual arts of Azerbaijan, the formation of the iconography of Istanbul is a multi-level and stage process. Its relevance is due to a number of factors of both the socio-ethnocultural aspect, historicism of relations, and creative searches of a personal nature. The purpose of the study of this article is to identify the context and the main priorities of the formation of the pictorial signature of Istanbul in Russian painting at certain stages of its development. The choice of the iconographic method as the main one made it possible to most clearly trace the specific semantics of the city, and also led to an appeal to the iconology of plots and genres associated with the image of Istanbul. The formation of canonical schemes took place against a complex background of a complex of historical mutual influences of related states, which necessitated the use of the diachronic method as one of the main tools. As a result, a rather capacious empirical base was analyzed, which included works of Azerbaijani painting from successive historical eras. Along with them, the initial base was considered, a series of interviews with the authors of the work was conducted. A generalization of the study was the conclusion that the image of Azerbaijani artistic creative consciousness was gradually formed, starting from the Middle Ages, within the framework of canonical art and against the background of constant close historical contact, which also led to periods of recession (Soviet period) in the development of themes. Stable positions during the new time are traditions of European romanticism, and in particular, Orientalism, reflected in the monumental painting of Azerbaijan. The stylistic and genre diversity is rapidly gaining momentum with a period of independence within the framework of both classical and postmodernism.

Myhailo Vrubel Kyiv Creative Period: Sacred Art and Canon Problem

The aim of the study is the analysis of sacral paintings of М. Vrubel during the Kyiv period (1884 – 1889) and understanding of the church canon by the artist. Methodology of the research includes general scientific methods – art study analysis and generalization of the problem under investigation. In order to study the subject the epistolary heritage of the artist was used. The article reveals the genesis of painting style of M. Vrubel as an integral part of the European version of the style Art Nouveau. The article also proves that this process took place during his Kyiv period, and was closely connected with the impact of Western European religious art on M. Vrubel`s creative work, in particular, when working on the sketches for St. Volodymyr’s cathedral. Conclusions . Evaluating the millage covered by M.Vrubel as a muralist we can conclude that his creative work has developed on the basis of academic easel forms and naturally evolved to Art Nouveau. While working on monumental and easel paintings in St. Cyril Church, monumental paintings in St. Sophia Cathedral and sketches of painting for St.Volodymyr’s Cathedral embodies the highest level of artistic achievements of mature Art Nouveau.

TRANSFORMATION OF THE KYIV MURALS AND MOSAICS AT THE TURN OF THE 1950–1960S AND THEIR IMPACT ON THE MONUMENTAL PAINTING DEVELOPMENT

During twentieth century monumental painting has undergone numerous changes in iconography, stylistics and figurative-plastic language itself. An important milestone was the turn of the '50–'60s. When the artists resorted to active decorative searches and the ways of plane expression.In the 1930–50's, socialist realism became the main pointer for the monumental artist, which was the dominant artistic method at that time. For the most effective use of this method, the artists have been oriented on the realistic and academic principles, filling classical forms with Soviet meaning. Panels become burdensome and suffocated by architectural decoration, the expressiveness of the monumental painting was lost.However, at the end of the '50s monumental painting began to move away from realistic tendencies. A search of new ways of expressions have been proceeded. A search of new ways of expressions proceeded. The impetus for rethinking styling was widely known resolution of November 4, 1955 "About the elimination of redundancies in design and construction. "The document became the peculiar starting point in Soviet architecture as well as monumental painting.According to this resolution aesthetical side had to be solved by organically linking the architectural form to the purpose of the building and established proportion. The task of architects was to work on the creation of standard buildings in simple economic forms.Thus, new opportunities for development in the monumental painting appear. With the formation of new architecture, murals and mosaics are gaining ground for experiments both with materials and figurative-plastic solutions.At the turn of the 60's significant projects were created in Kyiv, among them Kiev River Station (1961), Kiev Bus Station (1961), Shulyavska Subway Station (1963), Metro Restaurant (1963), interior design at The Institute of Plant Physiology and Genetics, NAS of Ukraine (1962), exteriors of the Institute of Plant Protection of the UAAS (1962).

THE HISTORY OF ART WORKSHOP AND TEMPLE CULTURE OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF FINE ARTS AND ARCHITECTURE

This article is dedicated to the studio of fine arts and temple culture in the context of the history of the National Academy of Fine Arts and Architecture. Analyzed was the educational program of the studio’s founder,M. Storozhenko. Discovered were the methodological analogies between the studio of monumental painting and templar culture of NAFAA, M. Boychuck’s art workshop and the icon-painting studio of the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra. It was proved that an analysis of historical experience can be useful in the educational process and in the upbringing of the modern painters of sacred (religious) art.

ICONOGRAPHY OF "THE LAST SUPPER" AND ITS ORIGINS IN THE MONUMENTS OF THE EARLY CHRISTIAN ERA

The article deals with the works of monumental painting, decorative and applied art and art of the book miniature of the early Christian era with the first images that refer to the prototypes of the "Last Supper". The research of iconography and the origins of the plot, namely, the influence of Roman art on the formation of iconography and artistic works of Christian art at its earliest stages of creation is the main line of the article. The main problems of identification of the plot, its symbols and use in various art forms are highlighted.In the study of the iconography of the plot "The Last Supper", the main difficulties arise with the origin of the plot, and therefore, with the use of evangelical or synoptic sources for its interpretation by masters who created these works of art. Times of dating, works of the early Christian era over time transformed even more and changed in the context of the development of iconography with its artistic peculiarities. The placement of Christ's disciples during the conduct of the sacrament, their posture, clothing, symbolism and details of the conditional interior, which accompany each work deserve detailed examination, art-study analysis and scientific explanation.In the study of the Byzantine book miniature of the early Christian era, it appears necessary to determine which part of the text from the Holy Scripture is illustrated alongside the image of the "Last Supper" and which additional miniatures accompany it. Also, special attention deserves exceptional and rare in the number of works of decorative and applied arts, in which the plot was embodied. In addition, to consider the origin and development of the iconography of the "Last Supper", it appears necessary to analyse and distinguish the differences in the iconography of works.The material of the article is illustrated by the works of the monumental art of the Roman catacombs and exhibits from the collection of the Louvre Museum, the State Historical Museum in Moscow, the Archbishopric Treasury of the Rossano Cathedral and the miniatures of the Cambridge Library of the Corpus Christi College.

The Features of the Monumental Paintings by V. Rudakov and N. Zheltomirska in Odessa Eparchy orthodox temples

In the article the monumental paintings by V. Rudakov and N. Zheltomirska in Odessa temples are considered. Characteristic features of contemporary sacred art are revealed due to the use of iconographic, iconological and comparative research methods. The principles of applying Byzantium icon-painting canon in the temples spaces are reviewed. The process of creating painting programs of churches interiors in connection with their dedication to a particular saint or to one of the Great Feasts is analyzed. The technological features of the creation of monumental and decorative design in the selected temples have been ascertained. The process of decorating Odessa churches by the icon painters of the XXI century is considered as a new wave of Christian art development based on Byzantine and Old Russian stylistics.

Sacred painting in XXI century Ukraine: Paintings of the Church of the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the village of Lipovka by Anatoly Krivolap and Igor Stupachenko. 2014–2019

The author of the article traces, analyzes and demonstrates the complex process of the modern solution of the paintings of the newly built church in the village of Lipivka, Makariv district, Kyiv region. It is about new approaches artists to the creation of religious compositions and the concept of sacred art in the modern world and the artistic process. The study outlines the idea of using the latest materials for the decoration of the temple.The emphasis is on laconicism and generalization of images deliberately created by artists and the use of local open colors. The article was created on the basis of the exhibition of these monumental paintings in the municipal art gallery "Lavra" for the possibility of more detailed acquaintance and study before installing on the walls of the church itself..

The Reception of the Engravings of Gottfried Bernhard Göz’s Marian Series in the Monumental Painting of the Lviv Circle in the 18th Century

The Polish version of the article was published in Roczniki Humanistyczne vol. 63, issue 4 (2015).
 The graphic series dedicated to the Mother of God, defined as Sub tuum praesidium confugimus, by Gottfried Bernhard Göz (1708–1774) was an inspiration for the monumental painting of the Rococo period in Poland in the times of the Saxon kings. The series of engravings with a devotional character made with the stipple engraving technique presents 12 signed Marian scenes: the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mary’s Birth, the Presentation of Mary, Mary and Joseph’s Matrimony, the Annunciation, the Visitation, the Purification, the images of Our Lady of Sorrows, and the Assumption. Other scenes are connected with Mary’s patronage – as the Queen of the Rosary—and her intercession. The prints, as researchers of Göz’s work assume, prove his mature style that was shaped in the years 1737–1740, when he formed a publishing “company” together with the Klauber brothers, Joseph Sebastian and Johann Baptist. He used the motifs occurring in the series many times e.g. on the vault of the nave in the Dominican nuns’ St Stefan Church in Habsthal (1748; Upper Swabia), in the sketch and painting for the Cistercian monastery in Birnau (1748–1750). These motifs were also found in Bavarian Marian shrines, e.g. Frauenchiemsee, Maria Mitleid Kapelle and Mater Dolorosa Kapelle with paintings by Balthasar Furtner (1761) and in a church in Niederaschau and Kleinmariazell (1763–1765). References to the series may also be found in the area of Slovenia, i.e. on the vault of Grajska Kapela in Novo Celje (1758–1763).
 The prints were known to the circle of Lviv artists active in the 18th century and they were used as models for numerous figural compositions. First of all the Lviv painter Stanisław Stroiński (1719–1802) used them for the decorations, among others, of the interior of the Franciscan Marian sanctuary in Leżajsk, in the Franciscan Holy Spirit Church in Krystynopol (1756–1759 (now Chervonohrad in Ukraine), and in the decoration of St Anne’s Chapel in the Holy Trinity Benedictine Church in Przemyśl. The series of prints was also used by the painter Gabriel Sławiński in the decoration of the chancel in St Lawrence Parish Church in the village of Żółkiewka and on the vault of the post-Pauline St Louis Church in Włodawa.
 The engravings are a significant model for Polish painting because of their style, technique and original approach to the conventional religious theme.

Contemporary Perception of the Protoevangelium Ancient Frescoes of the Mirozhsky Monastery

The article reveals artistic features of the unique ancient frescoes of the Protoevangelium cycle of the Spaso-Preobrazhensky Cathedral of the Mirozhsky Monastery in Pskov, dedicated to the life of the parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary, as well as her childhood and youth. The article considers a brief history of the first artistic ima­ges of the Virgin, her life and the Protoevangelium cycles in the history of world art and the monumental painting in the period from 2nd to the 12th century. In previous scientific publications, the attention was paid to the history of the monastery, the disclosure of ancient fresco technique and technology, the conditions of frescoes preservation, as well as the main characters and the content of the scenes. The novelty of this study lies in the analysis of artistic features of the Protoevangelium compositions of the Spaso-Preobrazhensky Cathedral of the Mirozhsky Monastery and in the disclosure of a narrower to­pic insufficiently covered in the specific literature and requiring further in-depth research: the perception of the ancient frescoes’ background details by vie­wers of the 21st century. The article analyzes the artistic features of additional, secondary background details of the frescoes, whose thoroughness is unique for the medieval period of Christianity formation in Russia. The author focuses on our contemporaries’ perception of the features of the composition and color of the Mirozhsky Monastery’s Protoevangelium frescoes’ background in comparison with similar scenes of medieval murals in temples of Kiev, Veliky Novgorod, Polotsk and other cities. The artistic compositions of the Spaso-Preobrazhensky Cathedral were developed on the initiative of Archbishop Nifont, one of the most educated people of his time, and made by Byzantine masters invited to Pskov to paint the walls in the first half of the 12th century. The frescoes of the Protoevangelium cycle are located in a separate South-Western compartment under the choirs. This article organically complements the scientific publications devoted to the analysis of gospel scenes, acts of the apostles, the life cycle of the Pope Clement, prophets and martyrs depicted in the paintings of the Mirozhsky Monastery.

Telling stories with pictures: narrative in middle and late Byzantine monumental painting

This article explores the narrative strategies employed in the monumental painting of the middle and late Byzantine period and considers whether the different methods of narration and the degree of narrativity can reveal anything about the function of the work, its creators, its audience and finally its period; in other words whether a narratological approach to visual representation could be a tool for analysing a work of art in socio-historical terms. This is determined firstly by identifying similar narrative structures in contemporary literature and secondly by looking for information on how contemporary viewers ‘read’ the ‘story’ in monumental narrative paintings.

Predicting Future Condition and Conservation Costs from Modelling Improvements to the Indoor Environment: The Monumental Munch-Paintings in the University of Oslo’s Aula Assembly Hall

The aim of this work was to assess how improvements to the indoor environment could affect the future condition, frequency and costs of major conservation-cleaning campaigns on the monumental paintings (1909–1916) by Edvard Munch, centrally located in the Aula assembly hall of the University of Oslo. A lower soiling rate is expected to reduce the need for frequent and major cleaning campaigns. Estimations were performed using the freely available NILU-EnvCul web-model. The conservation of these large, mostly unvarnished, oil paintings is challenging, and it is important to understand the potential benefits of preventive conservation measures. The results from the model suggested benefits from preventive conservation in protecting the paintings, and as a cost-efficient strategy to reduce the soiling and cleaning frequency. The model results indicated that an improvement in the indoor air quality in the Aula, of 50–80% as compared to the 1916–2009 average, would increase the time until the next similar major conservation cleaning campaign from approximately 45 years to between about 85 and 165 years. This should give a 45–70% reduction in the respective conservation costs. This saving was probably initiated by improvements in the recent past, before the last Aula campaign in 2009–11.

ПЕРИОДЫ РАЗВИТИЯ СОВРЕМЕННОЙ МОНУМЕНТАЛЬНОЙ ЖИВОПИСИ КИТАЯ (СЕРЕДИНА ХХ - НАЧАЛО XXI В.)

The article is devoted to studying the modern Chinese monumental painting of the middle of the XX - the beginning of the XXI century. Within this chronological framework, the author identifies five developmental periods of the modern Chinese monumental painting. Evolutionary process and aesthetic peculiarities of each period are examined. The author analyses the influence of political situation, economic and social processes on the formation of the original features of a particular period. The researcher’s attention is focused on the problem of preserving traditions and developing innovative trends in the modern Chinese monumental painting.

Monumental and decorative art of the second half of the 20th century in specialized literature

The article deals with a number of issues highlighted in the research of monumental painting during the 1960–2000s, and follows the development of art studies literature during the specified period. Ukrainian monumental painting during the second half of the 20th century evolved rather unequally, which affecte the art criticism reflections. In the 1960's and 80's the active and dynamic development of monumental art took place. Research in this area also reached the peak of its popularity. For example, the article of I. Pronina contains a review of publications from 1973–1974, and the author brought the statistics indicating more than 200 works. (180) Since the mid-1960's, academics have been increasingly focusing on monumental art. The attitude to monumental painting in the art history literature of the 1960's is ambiguous. However, most researchers are still critical of post-war practice and consider monumental works of the late 1950`s and 1960`s as a step forward. The distinctive differences between the 1960's and 1970's – 1980's lie in various attitudes towards themes and scenes of the monumental painting. In the 1960's the monumentality was associated with the laconic content, using a set of all understandable associative attributes. The expansion of the range of themes in monumental painting in the professional literature occured in the 1970's. Since the research problem stands at the crossroads of various branches of art, important scientific advancements were reflected in such prominent professional publications as: "Architecture of the USSR", "Decorative art of the USSR" and "Fine Arts". In the 1970's the publishing house "Soviet artist" released a series of articles compilations called "Soviet monumental art." The state of monumentalism significantly changes in 1990's as there was a significant decline in the activity of this artistic direction. At this time the monumental painting fell into the field of wide-scale artistic studies. In the professional literature of the last decade the scope of art study themes has changed to a certain extent as the art historians more often address the issues previously tabooed in Soviet times, and some of them partially or fully relate to the monumental painting. To such themes belong the Sixties and Boichukizm. Today the problem of the preservation of Soviet monumental works sharply appears. Many authors turn to the theme of monumental art in order to attract the attention of society to the rapid destruction of mosaics and wall murals, and to prove their value for Ukrainian fine arts.

Hrygorii Synytsia’s school of coloristic painting

The article is devoted to the study of the creative contribution of Hrygori Synytsia, an honored artist of Ukraine, laureate of Taras Shevchenko state prize, to the development of theoretical basis of formation of modern Ukrainian national painting. Artist was concerned with the question of developmental ways of Ukrainian art. Having received art education at the M. Boychuk's Studio of monumental painting, H. Synytsia saw the primary task in the development of this school’s traditions. He enriched the teaching of M. Boychuk with his own theory of color. The article explores the genesis of the term "color"; the characteristics of terms used by H. Synytsia "coloristic painting" and "tone painting" is given. The foundation of coloristic painting is a color, color as a basis of artistic image construction. A critical component of a coloristic painting founded by H. Synytsia is traditional Ukrainian art. The artist determines that only a color painting can embody the national characteristics of artistic thinking, to give impetus to the development of modern Ukrainian painting. H. Synytsia explains that shaped coloring does not exist in nature, it has certain laws of construction. A colour that embodies the artistic image is based on color relationships and interactions: the interpenetration of dark and light spots, warm and cool colors, and as a result it creates harmony. The artist finds the confirmation of his theory in philosophy, in its universal laws of nature. H. Synytsia sees the development of coloristic traditions of Ukrainian art in the works of folk artists. The main distinguishing features of the new direction, which was called ”the national Ukrainian coloristic school of modern national painting", were defined in the article. The analysis of the most significant works by H. Synytsia, in which the principles of artistic image were embodied, was given.