BERDAR VASYL

He was born on 24 December 1930 in Dovhe village, Irshava district, Transcarpathia.

Vasyl considered his eldest brother Ivan to be his first teacher. He was an artist-amateur who saw the young man's creative abilities and taught him the basics of drawing. In 1947, Vasyl entered the Uzhhorod School of Applied Arts, which he graduated in 1956 with a break for military service. The future artist was fortunate to have wonderful teachers – the founders of Transcarpathian School of painting, talented artists Yosyp Bokshai, Adalbert Erdeli, Fedir Manailo, Ernest Kontratovych, and Andrii Kotska.

At the end of his studies, he became a teacher, and from 1968 to 1976 he was working as a decorator. Since 1976, Vasyl Berdar was a designer of the Transcarpathian Regional Art and Production Complex, where he worked until 1990.

In addition to drawing, one more passion of the artist was music. For twenty years, the artist was an unalterable participant and accompanist of folk ensembles of songs and dances “Verkhovyna” and “Borzhava”, where he played the cymbals and travelled all over Europe.

In 1983, Vasyl Berdar became a member of the National Union of Artists of Ukraine. One of the mentors of the artist, an outstanding artist of the region Andrii Kotska, described the master's creativity as follows: “Especially successful and impressive are the following works: “Irshava is being built” (1979), “Verkhovyna Village” (1979), “Neighbourhood” (1980), “Dovhe Village” (1980), “Autumn” (1982), “The Edge Of The Village” (1982), “Homeland”(1983)… Vasyl Berdar is a Carpathian philosopher, he conveys his philosophy with music of colours ...”

In the 90s, the artist completely immersed in the creativity. The artist proved himself as a talented master of plein air painting. It happened that he participated in the plein airs with his teacher, the classic of Transcarpathian painting, Ernest Kontratovych, who was also his diploma paper curator. Picturesque Carpathian landscapes in different seasons dominate in his artworks. The artist's canvases are notable for their emotional mood, complex colours, weighted composition and sincere imagery. The famous Transcarpathian artist Volodymyr Mykyta mentioned about the creativity of Berdar: “The main theme of his works is his native land, which he knows well and which is dear to his heart… incessantly creative searches, great working capacity and hard work have given remarkable results: Vasyl Berdar found his art language, his creative face.”

The artist was very attentive to his paintings. He was convinced that creating is the need of soul; he was more interested in the process itself than in the result.

The artist also tried himself in sacred painting. He painted the chapels of the Greek-Catholic Church of St. Peter and Paul in Irshava, consecrated in 1995.

Since 1957, the works by Vasyl Berdar were exhibited at regional, republican and international exhibitions. They were also included in the 1980 anniversary exhibitions that took place in Kyiv and Moscow. In 1980 and 1995, it was held personal exhibitions of the artist in Irshava, and in 2001 – in Uzhhorod.

The artist's works are stored at the Transcarpathian Museum of Art named after Y. Bokshai, exhibition funds of the National Union of Artists of Ukraine and the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine, as well as in private collections.

Vasyl Berdar died in 2001.