Fedir Krychevsky ( uk, Федір Кричевський; – July 30, 1947) was an influential

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

early modernist painter. He was the brother of graphic designer

Vasyl Krychevsky Vasyl Hryhorovych Krychevsky ( uk, Василь Григорович Кричевський; January 12, 1873 in Vorozhba village, now Lebedyn Raion – November 15, 1952, in Caracas, Venezuela) was a Ukrainian painter, architect, art scholar, gr ...

Biography

Krychevsky was born in

Lebedyn Lebedyn ( uk, Лебеди́н, ) is a city in Sumy Oblast, Ukraine. Lebedyn is located in Sumy Raion. Before July 2020, Lebedyn served as the administrative center of Lebedyn Raion; it was administratively incorporated as a city of oblast sig ...

, in the

Kharkov Governorate The Kharkov Governorate ( pre-reform Russian: , tr. ''Khárkovskaya gubérniya'', IPA: �xarʲkəfskəjə ɡʊˈbʲernʲɪjə ) was a governorate of the Russian Empire founded in 1835. It embraced the historical region of Sloboda Ukraine. Fro ...

of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

, to the family of a

Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""T ...

ish country doctor who converted to Orthodox Christianity and married a Ukrainian woman. He graduated from the

Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture The Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture (russian: Московское училище живописи, ваяния и зодчества, МУЖВЗ) also known by the acronym MUZHZV, was one of the largest educational insti ...

in 1901 and the Saint Petersburg Academy of Arts in 1910. He traveled in

Western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's countries and territories vary depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the ancient Mediterranean ...

for a year, and studied briefly with Gustav Klimt in Vienna. He moved to Kiev, where he served as professor and director at the Kiev Art School from 1914 to 1918. In 1917, he was one of the founders and a

rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

(from 1920 to 1922) of the Ukrainian State Academy of Arts. When the academy was abolished, he worked as a professor at the Kiev State Art Institute, eventually becoming its rector. He remained in Kiev at the onset of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, and kept his position at the institute, trying to save it in difficult conditions during the German occupation of Kiev. He served as the chairman of the Union of Ukrainian Artists that tried to improve the conditions of artists during the occupation. He was extremely popular among the artist-colleagues, faculty at the institute and the students, and no one betrayed his Jewish origins to the German authorities, saving him from the

Babi Yar Babi Yar (russian: Ба́бий Яр) or Babyn Yar ( uk, Бабин Яр) is a ravine in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv and a site of massacres carried out by Nazi Germany's forces during its campaign against the Soviet Union in World War II. T ...

massacre. He moved to

Königsberg Königsberg (, ) was the historic Prussian city that is now Kaliningrad, Russia. Königsberg was founded in 1255 on the site of the ancient Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teutonic Knights during the Northern Crusades, and was name ...

in the summer of 1943, to join his brother Vasyl. He attempted to flee west to escape the advancing Soviet troops, but the train in which he was traveling was overtaken. Krychevsky was arrested by the

NKVD The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (russian: Наро́дный комиссариа́т вну́тренних дел, Naródnyy komissariát vnútrennikh del, ), abbreviated NKVD ( ), was the interior ministry of the Soviet Union. ...

as a collaborator, but his interrogations have elicited nothing that could incriminate him, so he was stripped of all his titles and honors and sent to exile to the village of

Irpin Irpin ( uk, Ірпі́нь, ) is a Hero City of Ukraine located on the Irpin River in Bucha Raion, Kyiv Oblast (province) right next to the city of Kyiv in northern Ukraine. Irpin hosts the administration of Irpin urban hromada, one of the h ...

near Kiev where he died of starvation during the famine in 1947, despite the food help that was receiving from his student Tetyana Yablonska. Twelve years after his death Krychevsky was rehabilitated. In 1959 the first exhibition of his works was held in Kiev, and information about his work began to be published.
Fedir Krychevsky
' at the ''

Encyclopedia of Ukraine The ''Encyclopedia of Ukraine'' ( uk, Енциклопедія українознавства, translit=Entsyklopediia ukrainoznavstva), published from 1984 to 2001, is a fundamental work of Ukrainian Studies. Development The work was creat ...

Works

In total, he produced close to a thousand works, including narrative compositions,

portraits A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expressions are predominant. The intent is to display the likeness, personality, and even the mood of the person. For this r ...

landscapes A landscape is the visible features of an area of land, its landforms, and how they integrate with natural or man-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.''New Oxford American Dictionary''. A landscape includes the p ...

drawings Drawing is a form of visual art in which an artist uses instruments to mark paper or other two-dimensional surface. Drawing instruments include graphite pencils, pen and ink, various kinds of paints, inked brushes, colored pencils, crayons, c ...

. His early work remains the most valuable and appreciated part of his oeuvre. It was formed under the influence of Gustav Klimt and

Ferdinand Hodler Ferdinand Hodler (March 14, 1853 – May 19, 1918) was one of the best-known Swiss painters of the nineteenth century. His early works were portraits, landscapes, and genre paintings in a realistic style. Later, he adopted a personal form of ...

and combined

Secessionist Secession is the withdrawal of a group from a larger entity, especially a political entity, but also from any organization, union or military alliance. Some of the most famous and significant secessions have been: the former Soviet republics l ...

aesthetic principles with folk and

Icon An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Catholic churches. They are not simply artworks; "an icon is a sacred image used in religious devotion". The most ...

sensibilities. Krychevsky's draftsmanship is considered to be equal to that of

Adolph Menzel Adolph Friedrich Erdmann von Menzel (8 December 18159 February 1905) was a German Realist artist noted for drawings, etchings, and paintings. Along with Caspar David Friedrich, he is considered one of the two most prominent German painters of t ...

. His later work, although solid in execution, suffered from ideological constraints of

Socialist Realism Socialist realism is a style of idealized realistic art that was developed in the Soviet Union and was the official style in that country between 1932 and 1988, as well as in other socialist countries after World War II. Socialist realism is c ...

. For 30 years Krychevsky was one of the leading figures in Ukrainian art.Ukrainian government portal
''Famous people of culture and art'' In 1911 and 1913 he organized the first strictly Ukrainian art exhibitions. Beginning in 1897, his work was exhibited at over 34 shows in and outside Ukraine. He was also a successful teacher, whose students included many famous Ukrainian artists. Krychevsky's triptych "Life" remains one of the iconic examples of Ukrainian modernism. The work combines the elements Art Nouveau and Ukrainian Religious paintings. Each painting contains respectively eternal themes of life - love, achievement and loss. Krychevsky's modern touch to the pictures, like planar-linear rhythm and harmony of colors enriched the paintings' classical interpretation.

Influence

Krychevsky had many students throughout his long career, notably Boris Kriukow and Tetyana Yablonska. There is a street in Kyiv named in his honor.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Krychevsky, Fedir 1879 births 1947 deaths People from Lebedyn People from Kharkov Governorate 19th-century Ukrainian painters 19th-century Ukrainian male artists Ukrainian male painters 20th-century Ukrainian painters 20th-century Ukrainian male artists Ukrainian Jews Jewish painters Symbolist painters Art Nouveau painters Soviet rehabilitations Academic staff of the National Academy of Visual Arts and Architecture Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture alumni Imperial Academy of Arts alumni