At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, the Viennese Secession movement became a significant aesthetic paradigm in Ukraine. According to Dmytro Horbachov, Ukrainian art historian, the style of Ukrainian Avant-garde was majorly inspired by this movement. “Decorative stylizations of Zhuk, picturesque symphonies of Malevich, neo-baroque excitement of Novakovskyi, almost Van Gogh-like ardor of Burachek, the Byzantinism of Vrubel and Boychuk. All these secessionist-fauvist influences nourished and stimulated the Avant-garde,” he states.
Modern European painting within the Secession movement is marked by ornamentation and decorativeness. A distinctive feature is the use of the line, which undulates uncontrollably, resembling a snake—a technique referred to as the “whip stroke.” The paintings often exhibit a sense of linearity, accompanied by sophisticated and refined colour palettes. The themes explored in secession paintings are deeply symbolic and psychological, frequently delving into mythological motifs.
Ukrainian Secession, also known as Ukrainian Art Nouveau, emerged as an art movement that sought to break away from academic conventions and incorporate more national mythology and aesthetics. It is a synthesis of various artistic forms, infused with the overarching concept of beauty and deep connection to national identity. Ukrainian artists of that time drew their inspiration from Ukrainian folklore, traditions, and nature.
Vasyl
Krychevsky
Vasyl Krychevsky (1872-1952) was a Ukrainian architect, designer, cultural figure, and a co-founder of Ukrainian Academy of Arts, originally from Kharkiv region. Krychevsky is renowned as the creator of the Ukrainian Modernism art style, with its initial expression found in the design of the Poltava Zemstvo building, a project he led and completed between 1903 and 1908.
An avid folk art collector, researcher, and enthusiast with an extensive understanding of traditional Ukrainian aesthetics, Krychevsky was commissioned by Mykhailo Hrushevsky, the President of the Central Council of Ukraine, to design the main symbols of state power in the Ukrainian People’s Republic. One of them is the current State Emblem of Ukraine.
Heorhii
Narbut
Heorhii Narbut (1886–1920) was a Ukrainian graphic artist, illustrator, and an outstanding cultural figure of the time, originally from Chernihiv region. Narbut played a significant role in the development of Ukrainian book design and graphics of that period. He is also a co-founder of Ukrainian Academy of Arts.
Narbut’s passion for researching traditional Ukrainian Cossack art, viewed not merely as folk but as noble, caught the attention of Pavlo Skoropadskyi, the Hetman of Ukraine, who ascended to power after a government coup in 1918. Skoropadskyi commissioned him to craft the new state emblem, coat of arms, and currency for Ukraine at that time.
Fedir
Krychevsky
Fedir Krychevsky (1879-1947), the brother of Vasyl Krychevsky, is a renowned Ukrainian modernist painter, originally from Kharkiv region. He pioneered the Ukrainian school of painting, serving as the inaugural rector of the Ukrainian Academy of Arts. His art was showcased at the Venice Biennale (1928) and in exhibitions in New York and Chicago, where it received high praise.
During his year-long trip across Europe, Krychevsky studied under Gustav Klimt in Vienna—this profoundly influenced his art and philosophy. His style is a brilliant fusion of Viennese Secession with the traditional elements of Ukrainian iconography: flatness, a unique colour palette, and empty background. His monumental triptych “Life” is considered the most prominent embodiment of Ukrainian Art Nouveau.
When World War II started, Krychevsky refused to evacuate to Russia and illegally stayed in occupied Kyiv. By the end of the war, his apartment and dacha in Kyiv region, along with most of his paintings, were destroyed by fire. Deemed “unreliable” by the Soviet government, Krychevsky was deprived of all his titles and ranks. He found himself in a dire situation, having no place to live and no money.
In 1946, taking advantage of Krychevsky’s vulnerable position, Nikita Khrushchev offered him a pardon if he painted a portrait of Stalin. Krychevsky refused, stating, “My dignity doesn’t allow me to paint all sorts of temporal opportunists, social climbers, and scoundrels,” to his students. His life ended in 1947—he starved to death at his easel.
Vsevolod Maksymovych
Vsevolod Maksymovych (1894-1914) stands as another remarkable figure in Ukrainian Art Nouveau, renowned for his adept use of symbolism and his exploration of the theme of “beautiful sinfulness” in his works.
His painting style, inspired by the aesthetics of antiquity, bears resemblance to the artistic approaches of Aubrey Beardsley and Gustav Klimt. The implementation of decorativism in his works, including pieces like “Two,” “Self-Portrait,” and “Argonauts,” reflects his roots in the Poltava region, renowned for its unique tradition of carpet weaving. The impact of this ornamentation is evident in his paintings.
Characterized by ornamentation, sinuous lines, the recurring peacock’s eye motif, the deep seductive gaze of characters, and dark contrasting shades, Maksymovych’s paintings create a rich atmosphere of darkness and anxiety. John Bolt, an English historian, aptly described his art, writing, “The sticky tentacles of his compositions embrace the amber-lit space filled with maddened ephebes, sinful Apollo, Dionysian nymphs, and lustful Argonauts.”
Unfortunately, this talented artist did not live long. In 1914, at the age of twenty, discouraged by a series of dramatic events in his life, Maskymovych commited suicide.
Abram
Manevich
Abram Manevich (1881-1942) was a Ukrainian-American modernist painter of Jewish origin, born in Belarus. He was a co-founder and one of the inaugural professors of Ukrainian Academy of Arts. Famous for his landscape paintings, Manevich is called the king of Ukrainian Modern landscape.
His paintings showcase exquisite linearity, incredible dynamics, and unconventional combinations of subtle colors. Ukrainian Avant-garde artist David Burliuk aptly called Manevich “the conductor of an orchestra in which the colors play in unison without a single false note of sound.” He painted his landscapes in a manner that creates incredible dynamic, with ever-moving water of colours streaming from the canvas.
The branches of the trees in his landscapes twist so much that they evoke a sense of plasticity akin to a whip stroke. In his painting “Spring in Kurenivka,” Manevich depicted young birches as if they are truly awakening from their slumber and commencing a lively dance, full of wriggling movements. His expressive and clear drawing skillfully captures the whimsical rhythm of lines—a hallmark cultivated by the Secession movement.
Abram Manevich, despite immigrating to the United States in 1920, belongs to the group of masters who shaped modern Ukrainian culture in the 20th century. His paintings, with their predominant exploration of decorativeness, defined the artistic innovations of the time.
Oleksa Novakivskyi
Oleksa Novakivskyi (1872-1935) was a Ukrainian Secessionist painter, originally from current Vinnytsya region. He received his initial art education in Odessa under marine painter Philipp Klimenko and later graduated from the Krakow Academy of Fine Arts, where he was significantly influenced by the prominent artists of the Krakow Post-Impressionism movement.
In 1913, upon the invitation of Metropolitan Andriy Sheptytsky, Novakivskyi moved to Lviv. The cultural amalgamation of both Western and Eastern elements in Lviv resonated with him. This fusion found expression in his works through symbolic and allegorical images, where monumental principles, dynamic lines, and an expressive use of colour played a pivotal role.
The evolution of Novakivskyi’s Secessionist painting can be traced through his self-portraits of 1898, 1911, and 1933. In each successive self-portrait, one can visibly observe a departure from realism, characterized by correct composition and clear drawing, towards a semi-abstract, expressive, and almost illusory self-portrait crafted with wavy and impulsive strokes.
Novakivsky’s masterful painting technique allowed him to achieve an incredibly precise expression. Within a single fragment of his work, the interplay of dynamics and colour allows one to easily distinguish surprise from fear, inspiration from fatigue. His portraits reveal the minutest details of his characters—wrinkles, tension in the corners of the lips, a penetrating gaze.
Olena
Kulchytska
Olena Kulchytska (1877-1967) was a Ukrainian Secessionist artist who worked in various mediums, including painting, book graphics, enamels, majolica, carpet design, furniture design, and icon painting. She graduated from Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna in 1907.
Kulchytska began painting as a child, receiving initial guidance from her father. Her inspiration blossomed from the beautiful landscapes, architecture, and the poetry of Ukrainian songs, fairy tales, and folklore that surrounded her. She devoted her life wholeheartedly to art, choosing not to start a family.
Kulchytska initially embraced the Secessionist style, influenced by Alphonse Mucha’s exhibition in Lviv and later during her studies in Vienna. Her evolution as a Secessionist artist was significantly shaped by her work in graphics, providing a platform to assimilate the core principles of Art Nouveau—ornamentation, sinuous lines, and flat areas distinguished by clear contours.
Her artworks are always infused with humanism. They captivate with their magical and soft beauty, being bathed in golden sunlight, ornate decorations, and intricate patterns.
Mykhailo
Zhuk
Mykhailo Zhuk (1883-1964) was a multifaceted Ukrainian modernist artist, originally from the Kherson region, who worked in various mediums, including painting, graphics, ceramics, and poetry.
Zhuk’s Secessionist painting style was significantly shaped by his education at the Krakow Academy of Fine Arts under the guidance of Stanislaw Wyspianski. Under Wyspianski’s influence, he not only developed his distinctive artistic style but also a penchant for using stylized floral ornamentation as a solution for the backgrounds in his paintings.
Zhuk engages in the poeticization of images, infusing his works with symbolism and associations. Flowers play a crucial role in his paintings, often depicted in a manner that enhances the psychological state of the human characters. In some paintings, such as “Lilies,” “Irises,” “Chestnut,” and “Carnations,” flowers take on the role of main characters.
Notably, Zhuk was a close friend of the renowned Ukrainian poet Pavlo Tychyna. The Secessionist ornamentation found in Tychyna’s poems reflects the influence of Zhuk’s decorative painting.
Kostiantyn Piskorskyi
Kostiantyn Piskorskyi (1892-1922) is a unique and remarkable figure in Ukrainian art history. He was not only a visual artist but, primarily, a remarkable thinker, with his views based on the unity of science, philosophy, and religion. His art is infused with a profound passion for cosmism—an attempt to comprehend the unknown and unravel the secrets of the Universe.
Originally from Kyiv, he grew up in a highly cultured environment within his family. In 1914, he completed his education in law at the Empire University of St. Volodymyr in Kyiv and started working at a bank. Shortly after, World War I began, and he was mobilized. After the war, he took various jobs, working as a tutor, editing a hand-written magazine, and even founding an amateur theatre—all to provide for his children.
Piskorskyi began his artistic career in 1918, at the age of 26, yet he emerged as an incredible master with his own style right from the start. When he began his art studies at the Ukrainian Academy of Arts under Heorhii Narbut, he was already an established artist, working in popular European styles of the era—Secession, Avant-garde, Futurism.
Piskorsky’s art is characterized by a balanced composition, rhythmic elements, geometric shapes, strict linearity, and profound symbolism. In his art, he delved into timeless human concerns, reflecting on themes such as war and individual responsibility for wrongdoing.
His life ended tragically in 1922 when he contracted typhus, leading to his untimely death at the age of 29.
Modest
Sosenko
Modest Sosenko (1875-1920), originally from the Ivano-Frankivsk region, is a prominent representative of Ukrainian Secession, known for pioneering innovations in Ukrainian modern religious art. With the support of Metropolitan Andriy Sheptytsky, he received his art education at the Academy of Fine Art in Munich and National School of Art in Paris.
Concerned with the quest for his national identity, Sosenko drew inspiration from 16th and 17th-century Galician iconography, infusing it with realism to rejuvenate religious images. Merging Byzantine tradition with Secessionist trends, he modified sacred images, imbuing them with national ideas. In Sosenko’s works, faces are academically precise, surrounded by stylized and symbolic ornaments.
His preferred decorative element—wicker ornamentation—transforms into mesh ribbon compositions in his monumental paintings, reflecting Ukrainian national motifs. Intricate designs intertwine fictional plants, forming fantastical flowers adorned with crosses and symbols.
“A colorist-ornamentator, this is the distinct artistic identity of Modest Sosenko. His works are not an expression of restless wandering in solving artistic challenges or in the pursuit of particular effects. Sosenko dreams of beauty; he loves it, he discerns it everywhere in the harmonious integrity of line drawings and the marvelous interplay of color tones,” wrote Ilarion Sventsitsky, Ukrainian philologist and museologist.
Yulian Butsmaniuk
Yulian Butsmaniuk (1885-1967), a student and disciple of Modest Sosenko, was a Ukrainian-Canadian monumentalist painter, originally from Lviv region. He graduated from the Academy of Arts in Krakow. In World War I, he served in the famous Sich Riflemen unit of the Ukrainian People’s Army. Forced by World War II, he emigrated to Edmonton, Canada.
Butsmaniuk created his most notable work while studying in Krakow. He adorned the Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Zhovkva (a city in Lviv region) with magnificent frescoes, symbolically depicting the crucial moments from Ukrainian history, such as the “Union of Brest” of 1596, The Act of Unification of 1919, the Holodomor.
In his church paintings, Butsmaniuk skillfully merged vibrant shades of blue, gold, green, and red, creating a captivating gradient effect. Particularly enchanting are the wings and halos of the angels, seamlessly extending the ornamental motif from the coloured stained-glass windows and precious smalt, enhancing the overall composition of the church.
Butsmaniuk’s work in the Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Zhovkva stands as a remarkable embodiment of Ukrainian Art Nouveau, captivating visitors with its enchanting and powerful beauty. Every year, thousands of tourists from all over the world visit the Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Zhovkva to experience the magical and powerful beauty of these paintings.
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