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. 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: cities' alternative names), is an industrial city in eastern Ukraine loca ...

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. Marble is typically not foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the term ''marble'' refers to metamorphose ...

, 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 th ...

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 of ...

( Theotokos " 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 River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the seventh-most populous city in Europe. Kyi ...

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 Business oligarch, oligarch Viktor Baloha, Shmatko moved with his family to the city of Mukachevo.

Exhibitions

* 2007: Biennale di Firenze 2007, Italy; received 4th place award in sculpture and installation * 2009: Biennale di Firenze 2009, Italy; Participating Artists 2009 * 2012: ArtMonaco 2012, Monaco; Exposants - Exhibitors, Art Monaco 2012 (page 160)

Works in public collections

* Shmatko's bust of Ivan Soshenko, Ivan Maksymovych Soshenko is stored in the museum of Taras Hryhorovych Shevchenko Imperial Academy of Arts in Saint Petersburg. Svyatogorsk.jpg, ''Sviatohorska Blessed Virgin''
Sviato-Uspenska
Sviatohirsk Lavra
Sviatohirsk, Ukraine Shmatko-statue.jpg, ''Foreplay''
Ural marble, 66 x 125 x 67 Soshenko.jpg, ''Ivan Soshenko'' Shevchenko Taras.jpg, ''Taras Shevchenko''
University of Luhansk, 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