WATERCOLORS BY ARKADII ZERNETSKYI AND EXHIBITION «HOME TOWN. KYIV OF THE 60S» AT THE NATIONAL MUSEUM «KYIV ART GALLERY»: A MEMORIAL ASPECT

Abstract

The article studies watercolor works by prominent Kyiv artist, architect and teacher Arkadii Zernetskyi (1932–1968) depicting Kyiv of the 1960s and presentation of these works to the general public using museum means in the modern period. The purpose of the article is to analyze the memorial component of the exhibition of watercolor paintings by Arkadii Zernetskyi «Home Town. Kyiv of the 60s» held in 2023 at the National Museum «Kyiv Art Gallery». The methodological basis of the article is formed taking into account the purpose of the study and consists of cultural and historical method, art review, iconographic method and generalization. The scientific novelty of the study is to introduce into scientific circulation the information about Arkadii Zernetskyi’s biography, artistic, stylistic and narrative dominants of his creative activity, to consider a personal posthumous exhibition as a way to draw public attention to the artist who preserved Kyiv views that have undergone modifications in the future for subsequent generations through watercolor paintings. Conclusions. The article analyzes the creative and scientific path of Arkadii Zernetskyi, a representative of the cohort of national architects of the mid-twentieth century, who in their practice laid exceptional emphasis to the academic artistic base (including the principles of watercolor painting). The interrelation of his activity as an architect and a gifted watercolorist has been established. The main line of his watercolor painting, an urban landscape, has been distinguished. Namely, depiction of urban landscape of the city of Kyiv, where the artist was born and lived almost all his life. The article analyzes a number of watercolors and identifies main features of the author’s artistic style, such as lyricism and delicacy of forms, comprehension of the piece of architecture as a compositional center, interrelation with the environment, work in various watercolor painting techniques. The article points out to the importance of the project «Home Town. Kyiv of the 60s» for popularizing the artistic heritage of Arkadii Zernetskyi and drawing attention of citizens to the image of Kyiv in his watercolors. It has been established that they are valuable historical sources containing information about Kyiv of the 1960s and allow us to track changes in urban environment as compared to the present.