Translated by Mura
A photo of a kitchen drawer from a ruined house, which, despite everything, withstood the blow, has already flown around the world. The most attentive noticed from above the drawers the wonder beast, or "good beast". This is a product of the legendary Vasylkiv majolica factory. And majolica roosters, which still adorn the interiors of many Ukrainian houses, are the work of Prokip Bedasyuk, a prominent Ukrainian ceramist. But before the majolica roosters and lambs appeared on the shelves of Ukrainians, the latest Ukrainian art, and ceramics in particular, has come a long way.
Bold and experimental Ukrainian art in the 20s and 30s of the 20th century
Prokip Bidasiuk is a student of the Boychukist artist Vasyl Sedlyar. Boychukists were representatives of the trend that took shape in the 1920s and consisted of finding new forms of contemporary Ukrainian art through the use of traditions of Ukrainian folk and partly Byzantine art. Vasyl Sedlyar, Oksana Pavlenko, Ivan Padalka, Antonina Ivanova, Konstantin Eleva, Onufriy Bizyukov, Sofia Nalepynska-Boychuk - these and many other famous artists and teachers of the Academy of Arts of Ukraine creatively rethought folk and traditional crafts, looking for new forms of preserving the traditions. It was their work that set the trend for all Ukrainian art in the 1920s. The works of Mikhail Boychuk himself, in whose honor the whole movement was named, are distinguished by biblical motifs and are similar in style to Byzantine icons.
Mykhailo Boychuk, “Ukrainka”, early 1910s
Boychukists often used tempera (paints mostly used in icon-painting) and traditional icon-painting techniques for their work.
New trends also influenced Ukrainian ceramists, they experimented with shapes and materials. Ukrainian art of the 1920s and 1930s kept pace with European tendencies — it was bold, eclectic, and still retained its identity — which the Soviet government did not like.
"The Great Purge began in 1937. The mass extermination of the dissidents gradually turns into uncontrolled repression, when a person can be killed simply because someone mixed up the name on the shooting list. These processes overtake the entire USSR, and in Ukraine there is a particularly thorough cleansing of the creative intelligentsia. According to some estimates, Ukraine accounts for more than a third of all artists were killed in the USSR in the 1930s and 1940s. ”
Alisa Lozhkina, “Permanent Revolution. Ukrainian art XX - beg. XXI century. "
In addition to repressions, the Soviet government severely restricted artists' self-expression. This also applied to ceramists: as N. G. Mironenko writes in his article "Activities of the Boychukists at the Budyansk Faience Factory (1917-1941)", there were many publications in the Soviet press with advice for masters to "avoid complicated forms" and reduce cobalt, purple dye and gilding as the more expensive goods. To simplify, the ware must be "adapted for use in a working-class environment".
"In 1926, in the magazine "Ceramics and Glass" the artist J. V. Guretsky made a proposal to reduce the standard faience set of common use to 9 forms of objects (compared to 18 - 27 forms in the pre-revolutionary times).
N. G. Mironenko with the reference to "Soviet decorative art. Materials and documents. 1917-1932. Porcelain. Faience. Glass.”
Budyansky faience factory as a center of creative research and technology development.
The restriction of artists in the forms of expression forced them to look for new art forms. First of all, the artists paid attention to the painting and decoration of the ware. In fact, Vasyl Sedlyar, like his student Prokip Bedasyuk, the one who created the majolica rooster, worked at the already mentioned Budyansk faience factory. The technology of ceramic production and ceramic painting begins to be taught at this pottery. Nina Fedorova introduces a new technique of painting with engobes (colored clays) on the unburned surface of faience. And Olga Cherepakhova creates stannary-free and lead-free non-toxic enamels. Strict frameworks regarding the shapes and forms of arts push craftsmen to artistic pursuits and developing new technologies for applying paint.
Sculptor Prokofiy (Prokip) Bedasyuk, a representative of the Mezhyghirska school of ceramics, creates vases, plates and dishes, mugs and kumanetses at the Budyansk pottery. Most of all, according to eyewitnesses, he liked painting horses. From his hands come the statuettes "Reaper" and "Pioneers", which fall into widespread production and bring the sculptor popularity.
Ideological pressure on art, and Soviet motives is a characteristic feature of those times. Artworks serve the purposes of propaganda and depict optimistic pictures of socialist life to divert attention from reality.
Nevertheless, many works of the Budyansk Faience Factory retain Ukrainian motifs, depicting traditional houses, girls and boys in national costumes, rural landscapes and traditional towels.
Vasylkivsky Majolica Plant
Prokip Bedasyuk started working at the Vasylkivsky majolica plant in the 1940s. Vysylkiv has long been one of the most prominent pottery centers in the Dnieper region. In the 1920s, the artel “Keramik” was created from the centers of single artisans, on the basis of which the Vasylkivsky majolica plant later emerged. According to the descendants of Vasylkiv masters, they were considered kulaks and heavy taxes were imposed on them, which is why they created an artel. Since the early 1960s, the Vasylkiv Majolica Plant has become one of the leading enterprises in the Ukrainian art industry.
Vasylkiv ceramics has many unique features. For example, Vasylkiv paintings have an asymmetrical composition, massive images of birds (usually roosters or seagulls), drawings with a central composition, ornaments typical of traditional utensils of northern Kyiv, and plant motifs - feathery leaves. You can read more about it here.
Source: https://m.day.kyiv.ua/uk/article/kultura/dobri-zviri-znyklogo-zavodu
Perhaps the most famous of his contemporaries are the animalistic sculptures of the plant - "good beasts". The most fantastic beasts were created by the couple, Nadezhda and Valery Protoryev. There are lions, sheep, goats, deer and calves, various birds and so on. One of the most famous sculptures is "The Terrible Beast", but there is also "The Terrible Smiling Beast".
"Scary Beast"
Divozvir (Wonder beast). If you look close enough, you’ll see freckles on its face.
Despite the nationwide recognition, the Protoriev couple were not respected in government circles, and the title of Honored Artist was awarded to them only after a quarter of a century of fruitful work. There was no politics in their art, they were not interested in depicting of leaders and socialist paintings.
Prokip Bedasyuk's rooster has already become famous all over the world. It was presented to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. In order for this rooster to have such an interesting and rich life, many Ukrainian artists worked to preserve the traditions of the Ukrainian people despite the oppression of the Soviet government and all the attempts to push art into the framework.
This is how Ukrainian art does not lose its relevance: it contains a part of the indigenous and independent Ukraine.