Vasyl Svyda. Interesting Facts

At the entrance to the Transcarpathian Museum of Folk Architecture and Life, in Uzhhorod, visitors are greeted by an impressive, multi-figure wood sculpture “To The Bridegroom. Wedding". The author of this genre work, which forms the imagination about the talent of the carver, is the famous Transcarpathian artist Vasyl Svyda.

It was not easy for him to achieve the heights of mastery and self-improvement, but in the end all the experience gained and his efforts left the descendants a rich, diverse and numerous creative heritage, which became a kind of chronicle of the life and history of his native land.

Several interesting facts will help art admirers more fully discover the facets of Vasyl Svyda’s talent.

Education

The only artists educational institution in which V. Svyda studied, was a State School of Wood Processing in Yasinia village, organized in 1921 when Transcarpathia was part of Czechoslovakia. The period of study of Svyda in this institution (in the department of carving, 1930-1934) coincided with the very flourishing of the school and the highly professional preparation of students. Five years later, in 1939, with the advent of the new government school ceased to exist; it has suffered destruction and was destroyed.

Restoration of the Velehrad Monastery in the Czech Republic

From 1937 to 1945, V. Svyda worked in professional studios of church art of the Kotrbov brothers (Brno, Prague). His first large-scale work was the participation in the implementation of highly qualified restoration works on the restoration of interior decoration after the devastating fires that occurred in the unique Velehrad monastery. After the restoration was completed, the efforts of the masters were approved by the highest spiritual commission from Prague. And for Svyda, the experience gained became a successful exam in Kotrbov's "university" and approved him as one of the best students of his direct mentor – Herman Kotrba.

Today, the Velehrad Monastery, founded in 1205, and above all its Basilica of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Saints Cyril and Methodius, is the spiritual centre and the main pilgrimage church of the Czech Republic. It is believed that a thousand-year history of Christianity originated in this part of Europe. In 1990, the Pope John Paul II visited the Velehrad Basilica. Solemn worship services here gathered up to 40,000 worshipers.

The level of mastery of V. Svyda in sacred art is also evidenced by the original home iconostasis made by him in the first half of the 1940s and which has survived till now.

Creative style

In general, 12 years of training at the Yasinia School of Wood Processing and the period of work in the company of the Kotrbov brothers formed and identified the further creative style of Svyda and his technique of carving, which harmoniously combined the methods of folk carving with professional plastic techniques.

 The work of Vasyl Svyda as a whole contributed to the revision of the potential of carving as a self-sufficient form of art with its inherent compositional-figurative solutions, raising it to a new level. Thus, in the Transcarpathian region, the flat ornamental carving, thanks to the works of the artist, has been considerably complemented by forms such as round sculpture and relief, the characteristic features of which have become thematic, easel and multifigure.

Creative diversity

The artist achieved the greatest success and recognition in works made in wood, which created a certain stereotype – “artist-carver”.

However, in the creativity of V. Svyda, the works performed in terracotta, majolica and porcelain occupy a prominent place. They are characterized by the specific plasticity of the form, rounded softness of the silhouette and lyrical mood.

In the 1937-1940s, Vasyl Svyda tried himself in unusual forms of art for him – such as engraving on metal or casting bells. Later, he starts up with ornamental embroidery of shirts and the manufacture of articles of decorative and applied arts, in particular, lamps, sconces, and the like. Many works are made in plaster, epoxy resin, plasticine.

Evidence of the significance of these works is that more than 20 works made “not in wood”, acquired by the museums of Kyiv, Kolomyia, Uzhhorod, Kaniv, etc.

 At the same time, the artist did not work in the genre of monumental art, did not create busts, monuments, and park sculptures.

Sculpture and poetry

Among the best works of V. Svyda is the lyrical composition “Horses Drinking Water”, which is located in the National Museum of Art in Kyiv. Thus, it is not surprising that it brought to life lyrical poetry, written by the student of Vasyl Svyda, poet and teacher Ivan Shmulyha

Activities in the Union

On 16 August 1946, it was formed the Transcarpathian Branch of the Union of Artists of Ukraine, headed by one of the founders of the Regional Fine Art School Adalbert Erdeli. Vasyl Svyda entered the number of the first members of the Union and promptly joined the recognized team, making his debut at the II regional art exhibition with eight works at once. Characteristic recommendation for admission to the “real” members gave him Adalbert Boretskyi.

Subsequently, Svyda was elected (and re-elected) the chairman of the Transcarpathian branch of the Union for a long 10 years and even became a member of the board of the Union of Artists of the USSR.

Public figure

During the post-war history Vasyl Svyda – perhaps the only one of the representatives of the creative intelligentsia of the region was elected to the Verkhovna Rada of the USSR (three times in a row, 1951-1963). Many times (nine convocations) he was a deputy of Uzhhorod City Council, headed by the Commission for the Protection of Nature and Cultural Monuments. He was a member of the board of numerous public organizations of the region and Ukraine.

Pedagogue

Thanks to the support of Petro Lintura and Adalbert Erdeli, the artist gave a significant part of his creative life to the teaching of creative youth, first in the State Art and Craft School in Uzhhorod (1945 - 1946), and later in the Uzhhorod School of Applied Art, where he generously shared his skills with future specialists of artistic wood processing (1948 - 1976).

The most well-known pupils are Taras Danylych (People's Artist of Ukraine), Volodymyr Shchur (Honored Master of Folk Art of Ukraine), Vasyl Popovych (Honored Artist of Ukraine), Mykhailo Belen (Honored Artist of Ukraine), Larysa Brovdi (Honored Artist of Ukraine), Ivan Brovdi (People's Artist of Ukraine) and others. It is noteworthy that the Shevchenko Prize laureate Vasyl Svyda trained a student who achieved the same highest state prize – Vasyl Sidak.

Shevchenko Prize

The greatest work of the artist became grandiose in design and performance of high relief “In A Single Family” (1978 – 1982), for which Vasyl Svyda in 1983 was the first Transcarpathian artist to be awarded the State (now – National) Award of the Ukrainian SSR named after T. Shevchenko. In this majestic, almost 100-figured sculptural composition (width 6.7 m, height 2.6 m), made in mahogany, the artist summarized his own life and creative experience through the prism of perception of history and the life of his native land at the turn of different eras. According to the definition of art historian Liudmyla Biksei, the work “In A Single Family” – one of the most monumental decorative plastics of the contemporary age in the history of Transcarpathian fine art.

Taking into account the significance of V. Svyda’s creativity for the development of Ukrainian culture, the Central State Archive-Museum of Literature and Art of Ukraine (Kyiv) created a separate fund of V. Svyda, and on 16 May 2013, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted the Resolution “On the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the birth of Vasyl Svyda”

Art edition “Vasyl Svyda. Eternal”

 In 2015, in the All-Ukrainian State Publishing House "Karpaty" it was published an art edition “Vasyl Svyda. Eternal” of authors-compilers Yaroslav Svyda, Head of the Charity fund named after Vasyl Svyda, and Borys Kushnir, Honored Worker of Culture of Ukraine. The album contains a comprehensive article on the life and work of the sculptor (authors Valentyna Martynenko, Yaroslav Svyda), an illustrated catalogue of the main works, a list of exhibitions on which the works of the artist were exhibited, and museums, institutions, organizations where the works of the artist are kept. A separate section is a bibliography (more than 500 sources).

The album was presented at the National Museum of Ukrainian Folk Decorative Arts (Kyiv), the Lviv National Academy of Arts, the Transcarpathian Museum of Art named after Y. Bokshai, the museum “Berehynia” of Uzhhorod classical gymnasium, as well as at the home of the artist – in Patzkanovo village council, Sunday school of the Holy Protection Church in Pryborzhavske village (Irshava district).

In general, the creativity of Vasyl Svyda remains insufficiently studied and requires further comprehension, popularization, and creation of a museum of an outstanding master.

Text: Liudmyla Kozlovska, Yaroslav Svyda
Photo: from the family archive of Vasyl Svyda
© Art & Culture Foundation Brovdi Art