PAPP MYKOLA

He was born on 19 December 1953 in Kosyno village, Berehovo district, Transcarpathia.  The mother of the future artist, Lidiia Horshkova, worked in Sevliuk winemaking farm, head of the laboratory. His father Karlo Papp was a Hungarian. He made wooden tanks, tubs, barrels and other containers.

In the 1960 – 1970, he studied at school and then entered the faculty of history of Uzhhorod University. However, after his first year, he dropped out and started painting. The basics and the newest styles of painting a talented boy were taught by Mykola Ihnatyk, a well-known artist. From 1973 to 1975, he served in the army, where his art talent was especially needed: he created the so-called "demonstrativeness" and played in the army’s music group. Later he worked in the geological expedition, and as a painter-builder in the astronomical centre in the Crimea (for the Academy of Sciences of Ukraine). It was there that he first looked into the telescope's objective and, according to media, "...discovered the unknown mysterious sky, dotted with countless galaxies inaccessible to a man. The reflection of that light and the echo of cosmic secret music awakened him as a poet, musician, and artist."

During the 70s and 80s of the last century, the name of Mykola Papp was known in the creative circles of Transcarpathia and beyond. In 1989, it was held his first exhibition which caused a great resonance. Subsequently, the artist presented his works in Moscow. In 1990, he was invited to the United States to present his work in New York, where he stayed after the contract completion. In 1993, at an exhibition in New York, Mykola met a Bulgarian Irina Simeonova, who soon became his wife and gave birth to their son Karl-Oleksandr.

The artist lived in Manhattan, New York until 2001, but after the terrorist attack on 11 September, the Papps moved to Connecticut. Mykola painted a lot, his paintings appeared in Hollywood, the White House. In 1999, the US President Bill Clinton presented the painting of Mykola Papp "Breath of the Morning" to Leonid Kuchma. The artist's paintings are in the collections of the diplomatic officials, businessmen, and private collectors from the USA to Japan. An art magazine of Japan placed Mykola Papp among the five most famous artists of the West. The works of the artist were exhibited in the galleries of New York, Tokyo, Nice, Los Angeles, Long Island, and Moscow.

The artist’s works reflect his vision of the Universe: infinity, space and a man in this endless ocean of possibilities – these themes become the main source of his inspiration. Through his paintings, the artist transmits his subtle perception of the world, his mood, emotions, and feelings. Besides his talent in art, he wrote poems, prose, musical compositions.

In 2012, M. Papp came to his homeland, where he worked quite well and held his personal exhibitions in Uzhhorod and Vinohradiv.

He died in Long Island (the USA) in June 2013.