Nikolay Havrylovych Shmatko ( uk, Микола Гаврилович Шматько; 17 August 1943 – 15 September 2020) was a

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 ...

sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

and

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

. He was born in the

Donetsk Donetsk ( , ; uk, Донецьк, translit=Donets'k ; russian: Донецк ), formerly known as Aleksandrovka, Yuzivka (or Hughesovka), Stalin and Stalino (see also: Names of European cities in different languages (C–D), cities' alternat ...

region of Ukraine.

Biography

Shmatko became a sculptor at the age of 33, having previously been a firefighter. In 1996 he met the famous model and gallerist Dina Vierny in France, who predicted his great future and advised him "not to scatter his works worldwide". During all his creative development Nikolai Shmatko created more than 750 various monuments and about 500 pictures. He worked in

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite. Marble is typically not Foliation (geology), foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the ...

, inspired by European culture and art. His studio and gallery contain 100 sculptures (more than 70 of which are made of Ural and Italian marble); 30 plaster casts; and about 300 pictures (including paintings, graphics, and architectural designs). In total, there are approximately 750 pieces, ranging from simple decorations to

bas-relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...

and

high relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...

busts and sculptures. Some of these pieces are sexually explicit and even pornographic. Shmatko also worked in

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...

, and had a design for a penis-shaped high-rise building. In 2004, for his work "Sviatohorska Blessed Virgin" - a statue of the

Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother o ...

(

Theotokos ''Theotokos'' (Greek: ) is a title of Mary, mother of Jesus, used especially in Eastern Christianity. The usual Latin translations are ''Dei Genitrix'' or ''Deipara'' (approximately "parent (fem.) of God"). Familiar English translations are " ...

Hegumenia Hegumen, hegumenos, or igumen ( el, ἡγούμενος, trans. ), is the title for the head of a monastery in the Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches, similar to the title of abbot. The head of a convent of nuns is called a hegumenia ...

") for Sviato-Uspenskyi Sviatohorskyi Monastery - Shmatko was awarded the order of Nestor Letopisets by

Volodymyr Sabodan Metropolitan Vladimir (Volodymyr; secular name Viktor Markianovich Sabodan, russian: Виктор Маркианович Сабодан, uk, Віктор Маркіянович Сабодан, November 23, 1935 – July 5, 2014) was the hea ...

, the

Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...

Metropolitan, and all of Ukraine. In the autumn of 2005 the Transfiguration church was opened in the village of Keleberda, Poltava region. Exclusively for this church, the sculptor created a marble sculpture "The Crucifixion". In autumn 2012, at the invitation of oligarch

Viktor Baloha Viktor Ivanovych Baloha ( uk, Віктор Іванович Балога, born 15 June 1963, Zavydovo) is a Ukrainian politician and the former emergency situations minister. Early life and education Viktor Baloha was born on 15 June 1963 ...

, Shmatko moved with his family to the city of

Mukachevo Mukachevo ( uk, Мукачево, ; hu, Munkács; see name section) is a city in the valley of the Latorica river in Zakarpattia Oblast (province), in Western Ukraine. Serving as the administrative center of Mukachevo Raion (district), the city ...

Exhibitions

* 2007:

Biennale di Firenze The Biennale Internazionale Dell’Arte Contemporanea, also known as the Florence Biennale is an art exhibition held in Florence, Italy. Since 1997 it has been held every two years in the exhibition spaces of the Fortezza da Basso, Florence. The li ...

2007,

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

; received 4th place award in sculpture and installation * 2009:

2009,

; Participating Artists 2009 * 2012: ArtMonaco 2012,

Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...

; Exposants - Exhibitors, Art Monaco 2012 (page 160)

Works in public collections

* Shmatko's bust of Ivan Maksymovych Soshenko is stored in the museum of Taras Hryhorovych Shevchenko

Imperial Academy of Arts The Russian Academy of Arts, informally known as the Saint Petersburg Academy of Arts, was an art academy in Saint Petersburg, founded in 1757 by the founder of the Imperial Moscow University Ivan Shuvalov under the name ''Academy of the Thre ...

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

. Svyatogorsk.jpg, ''Sviatohorska Blessed Virgin''
Sviato-Uspenska

Sviatohirsk Lavra , native_name_lang = , logo = , logo_size = , logo_caption = , image = Svjatogorsk,_Lavra_3.jpg , image_size = , image_caption = The Sviatohirsk Lavra from the left bank ...

Sviatohirsk Sviatohirsk ( uk, Святогі́рськ, ) is a city in the northern part of the Donetsk Region of Ukraine. A part of the Sloviansk Municipality, it stands on the banks of the Siverskyi Donets River, from the city of Sloviansk. The populatio ...

, Ukraine Shmatko-statue.jpg, ''Foreplay''
Ural marble, 66 x 125 x 67 Soshenko.jpg, ''Ivan Soshenko'' Shevchenko Taras.jpg, ''

Taras Shevchenko Taras Hryhorovych Shevchenko ( uk, Тарас Григорович Шевченко , pronounced without the middle name; – ), also known as Kobzar Taras, or simply Kobzar (a kobzar is a bard in Ukrainian culture), was a Ukraine, Ukrainian p ...

''
Luhansk Taras Shevchenko National University

References

External links

Official website

Official website of HRH Princess Basmah Bint Saud

Sculpture Gives Yulia Nude Treatment

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shmatko, Mykola 1943 births 2020 deaths People from Krasnohorivka 20th-century sculptors 20th-century Ukrainian painters 20th-century Ukrainian male artists 21st-century Ukrainian painters 21st-century Ukrainian male artists Sculpture galleries in Ukraine Soviet painters Soviet sculptors Modern sculptors Ukrainian sculptors Ukrainian male sculptors Ukrainian male painters