Exhibition activities of Yevhen Vuchychevych in the context of the artistic life of Kyiv at the beginning of the XX century

Ігор ПОНАМАРЧУК

Київ

Статтю присвячено виставковій діяльності маловідомого художника-пейзажиста Євгена Вучичевича (1874? - після 1950). Для Києва початку XX століття персональні виставки були явищем доволі рідкісним, однак, у митця їх відбулося щонайменше три - у 1902, 1911 і 1915 роках. До наукового обігу вводиться низка невідомих фактів, а також вперше публікуються знайдені автором листи Євгена Вучичевича.

Ключові слова: Євген Вучичевич, художник, персональна виставка, Київ.

Статья посвящена выставочной деятельности малоизвестного художника-пейзажиста Евгения Вучичевич (1874? - после 1950). Для Киева начала XX века персональные выставки явлением довольно редким, однако, у художника их было как минимум три - в 1902, 1911 и 1915 годах. В научный обиход вводится ряд неизвестных фактов, а также впервые публикуются найденные автором письма Евгения Вучичевича.

Ключевые слова: Евгений Вучичевич, художник, персональная выставка, Киев.

The name of the artist Yevhen Vuchychevych is almost forgotten today, although in the early XX century he was well known not only in the Russian Empire but also far beyond its borders. He was an extremely prolific artist, producing hundreds of pictures during his life and holding dozens of exhibitions in Kharkiv, Symferopil, Tomsk, Irkutsk, Yalta, Odesa, Moscow, Yaroslavl and even London¹. The name of Vuchychevych is also associated with Kyiv, where he had at least three personal exhibitions.

Yevhen Vuchychevych (1874? - after 1950) was born into a family of Montenegrin nobles whose ancestors became subjects of Russia in the early nineteenth century². His grandfather was a landowner and owned Parkhomivka³, a village that is now known for its extraordinary art museum. In the 1860s, the father of the future painter, a well-known playwriter at that time, who wrote under the pseudonym «Dmytro Lesevytskyi»⁴, received a hereditary noble title, but, having gone bankrupt, was forced to sell his estate to the sugar producers Kharytonenko and settled down with his family in Liubotyn, not far from Kharkiv. As for Yevhen Dmytrovych, his early years are not known, we were not able even to find out whether he had a degree in art or not. At least at the specialized school of the Imperial Academy of Arts, there was no student with this name⁵.

On February 5, 1902, on the pages of the «Kievlianin» newspaper⁶ the announcement of the opening of the exhibition of Yevhen Vuchychevych's paintings was published. However, only the next day the artist officially addressed the governor of Kyiv with a request to allow him to arrange the exhibition in the city to display his paintings and sketches. The official for special missions inspected the exposition and, without revealing the tendencies in the works, granted the desired permission on February 6⁷.

What's interesting is that this exhibition was at least the second in the creative biography of the young artist. Evidence of this is the catalog of 1900 with a list of 130 works exhibited in Kharkiv⁸. Among them were copies of paintings of I. Aivazovskyi, I. Shyshkin, R. Sudkovskyi, prof. Kowalski, as well as many paintings with «borrowed motives». Knowing where the Vuchychevych family nest was located, Kharkiv's choice for the artistic debut seems quite natural. The city later attracted the artist which was explicitly mentioned in the letter he wrote in the fall of 1911 to the prominent Ukrainian scientist Mykola Sumtsov⁹.

The exhibition in Kyiv was organized in the house on Fundukleivska Street (now Bohdan Khmelnytskyi) 26¹⁰, owned by Yakov Berner (1837-1914), merchant of the 1st guild, member of the city council and owner of several brick factories, mansions and apartment buildings, patron of arts¹¹. This five-story building has survived to our day. It is often referred to in the directories as the Hermitage Hotel, where poets Andriy Bely and Olexander Block stayed in 1907.

In Kyiv's announcements of 1902 it is stated that Vuchychevych was a St. Petersburg artist, though as of March 1903 his place of permanent residence was Kharkiv and his temporary residence was in Moscow¹².

The second exhibition of Vuchychevych in Kyiv started on March 9, 1911¹³. Unlike the previous one, the fact that it was held did not become news to researchers of the author's creative works; however, they were not entirely convinced that it was about Yevhen Vuchychevych, but not his older brother, Volodymyr Vuchychevych-Sybirskyi (1869-1919), also a famous painter at the time¹⁴.

Despite the fact that the event lasted only for 10 days, the catalog of the exhibition was printed, which unfortunately could not be found yet. The paintings were displayed at the Malyi Theater (1906-1911) of entrepreneur Olexander Kramskoy (1865-1922), transformed in 1910 into a theater cafe «Satyrycon». This Kyiv theater did not have a permanent troupe, but only provided its stage for performances by dramatic, musical, circus groups, soloists and, as we can see, artists for exhibitions. It was located on Khreshchatyk, on the second floor of building No. 15 (by the old numbering), which has not been preserved to this day.

In a response to the exhibition, a local critic wrote: «For many paintings, he [the viewer. - I. P.] will have to depart as far as possible in order to get a general impression, distracted from the details. But still, there is a lot of things to stop here, you do not have to be confused to run around the rooms to find something similar to a picture with a lantern»¹⁵.

Vuchychevych's active exhibition activities were taking place during the period of flowering decadence, which was categorically not perceived by the painter. Not only his well-known works, but also the announcement in Kyiv newspaper suggests this: «Exhibition of paintings and sketches of the artist not decadent of Ye. D. Vuchychevych»¹⁶. Of course, the newspaper itself could characterize his style on such a way, especially since the reviews of the exhibition include the following words: «The spectator, tired of the joyless Sabbath that the decadents danced all winter, in almost all the auditoriums of Kiev, will breathe a sigh of relief when he enters the peaceful abode of Vuchychevych»¹⁷. Yet it seems that the artist deliberately opposed himself to a new trend in art, because a similar wording about «not decadent» was also featured in the St. Petersburg Gazette¹⁸.

Yevhen Vuchychevych was known not only as a landscape painter, but also as a professional actor, who acted under the pseudonym Yuzhanov. And just finished his Kyiv exhibition, as the following appeared on the pages of the St. Petersburg magazine «Theater and Art»: «Evgeniy Dmitrievich Yuzhanov. Hero. Offers services per performance; classical repertoire, Ostrovsky and others»¹⁹.

The last exhibition of Vuchychevych in Kyiv opened on March 23, 1915,²⁰ at Khreshchatyk building, No. 25 (by the old numbering). As in 1911, a modest edition of 10 kopecks²¹ in Russian and Polish was prepared for the Opening Day of the exhibition, which is now a true bibliographic rarity. Thanks to this catalog we know what Yevhen Dmytrovych looked like (the front page is decorated with a portrait photograph of the artist, one of the few known), and that a great number of works - 130 paintings and sketches - were exposed. Most likely, the vast majority of paintings and sketches were small in size - as in the 1910 Yalta Exhibition, where about 80 works were housed in two rooms²². Our special attention was drawn to the painting No. 20 - «Street in the Village after the Rain»²³, and we assume that this work is now stored in Kyiv Museum of Spiritual Treasures of Ukraine.

According to press reports, the works of Vuchychevych were eagerly bought by collectors. Thus, at one of the exhibitions his marine painting was purchased by Warsaw Governor General Georgy Skalon²⁴. «Ye. D. Vuchychevych is by all means talented artist, adhering to the old school, that is, recognizing a good drawing and normal harmony of colors, understandable to healthy people and satisfying their aesthetic feeling», - a local critic shared his impressions of the exhibition²⁵.

It is impossible to speak about the further participation of Ye. D. Vuchychevych in the artistic life of Kyiv after the closing of the exhibition on April 23, 1915²⁶. It is only known that he continued to work. This, in particular, is evidenced by the signature on his painting - «August 25, 1917», sold in 2007 at the auction of the «Corners» Auction House²⁷.

There is little evidence regarding the personal life of the artist. Nina Vuchychevych (his grandson's wife) remembered that in the 1920s, when Yevhen was 50, he got married for the second time. Before the Second World War he lived with his family in Hulaypole. When the Germans arrived, the artist's wife worked as a translator for them. For this, after the war, the whole family was deported to Kazakhstan, to the Jambul steppes. In the second marriage, the artist had a son and a daughter. The latter lived in Odessa, Vuchychevych loved her very much, always had a photo of her. Soon his legs failed and in 1950 or 1951 Vuchychevych died. The artist was buried in Uzbekistan in the city of Alimkent²⁸.

It is also impossible to give a detailed description of Vuchychevych's artwork, because it requires not some solitary works, but a large number of them. However, neither the National Art Museum of Ukraine, nor the Kharkiv Art Museum have any works of Vuchychevych²⁹. At the same time, it is possible to say with confidentiality that the artistic activity of Yevhen Vuchychevych is an integral part of the exhibition life of Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities - Kharkiv, Odessa, Yalta.

For Kyiv in the early twentieth century, personal exhibitions were quite singular cases, since their organization required considerable financial costs, energy, and most importantly, a sufficient number of art works. Therefore, collective exhibitions were more popular. For example, the prominent Ukrainian painter Oleksandr Murashko did not have any personal exhibition on the territory of the Russian Empire, and Ye. Vuchychevych alone had at least three personal exhibitions in Kyiv. He was a very prolific artist, usually exhibiting between 80 and 130 works, more over it is surprising that his name is almost forgotten and the history of the paintings is unknown.

In addition to the article, we will list two letters from Yevhen Vuchychevych that we have found in order to «hear the voice» of the artist himself.

On the eve of this month, I would like to open my exhibition in Kharkov for the whole of December and would like to arrange it in the City Museum, which is chaired by Mr. Rector³⁴, that is, the person you, Nikolai Fedorovich, is standing very close to, -- therefore, I appeal to you with the most respectful request to find out and tell me: can I count on this premises, they probably take a percentage fee, and I agree in advance to the conditions that will be offered. I shall be vastly, vastly obligated, if you let me know as soon as possible, because the efforts of transporting the paintings will take about 12 days - and I ask you to forgive me very much for this concern.

I spent the summer on schizzos in Crimea³⁵ - I made large series of sketches.

In the spring, I had my exhibition in Moscow and, thanks God, it was successful - now I am willing to go to St. Pete for the same purpose, but I need a lot of money for this, and therefore I decided to drop in to my native Kharkov to try my luck.

Yours faithfully, Yevgeniy Vuchychevych P S. My address: Sevastopol. Mail. Cont. Poste restante Yevgeniy Dmitrievich Vuchychevych

Оголошення про закриття виставки Є. Д. Вучичевича. Газета «Киевлянин», 1911. - № 78 - 19 березня.

Офіційне звернення Київського губернатора до Київського, Подільського та Волинського генерал- губернатора стосовно виставки Є. Вучичевича. (У написанні прізвища художника допущено друкарську помилку. ЦДІАК України. - Ф. 442. - Оп. 632. - Спр. 80. - Арк. 4.).

Литература

¹ Иваньшин Н. Письмо из Ярославля // Аполлон. - 1913. - № 9 (ноябрь). С. 89-90.

² Дворяне Харьковской губернии. Генеалогический форум ВГД. - [Електронний ресурс]. - Режим доступу: http://forum.vgd.ru/post/532/19517/p2177798.htm

³ Пархомівка, Краснокутський район, Харківська область // Історія міст і сіл Української РСР. Харківська область. - К., 1967. - С. 655.

⁴ Гаврилюк М. Н. Крымские страницы жизни художника Евгения Дмитриевича Вучичевича // Симферополь на перекрестках истории: материалы научно-практической конференции / Музей истории г. Симферополя; ред. Э. Б. Петрова, А. В. Ишин, И. И. Вдовиченко, Л. Н. Вьюницкая. - Симферополь, 2016. - С. 14; Вучичевич Д. Л. Простая совесть: Драма в 5 д. / Соч. Дм. Л. Лесевицкого [псевд.]. - М.,1900. - 107 с.

⁵ Кондаков С. Н. Список русских художников к Юбилейному справочнику Императорской Академии художеств / Подгот. и перераб. текста В. Я. Лаптева, А. Д. Мордванюк. - М., 2002. - 608 с.

⁶ [Announcement of the exhibition of Ye. D. Vuchychevych] // Киевлянин. - 1902. № 36. - 5 февраля. - С. 1.

⁷ Центральний державний історичний архів України, м. Київ (далі - ЦДІАК України. - Ф. 442 (Канцелярія Київського, Подільського та Волинського генерал-губернатора). - Оп. 632. - Спр. 80. - Арк. 4-5.

⁸ Каталог картин и этюдов художника Е. Д. Вучичевича. - Харьков, 1900. - 4 с.

⁹ ЦДІАК України. - Ф. 2052 (М. Ф. Сумцов). - Оп. 1. - Спр. 277. - Арк. 2.

¹⁰ ЦДІАК України. - Ф. 442. - Оп. 632. - Спр. 80. - Арк. 4; [Announcement of the exhibition of Ye. D. Vuchychevych] // Киевлянин. - 1902. - № 39. 8 февраля. С. 1; № 45. 14 февраля. - С. 1; № 47. 16 февраля.

- С. 1; № 50. 19 февраля. - С. 1.

¹¹ Третьяков А. Старий Хрещатик і його домовласники. - К., 2019. - С. 137-138.

¹² Гаврилюк М. Н. Крымские страницы жизни художника Евгения Дмитриевича Вучичевича. - С. 17.

¹³ [ Announcement about the exhibition of Ye. D. Vuchychevych] // Киевлянин. - 1911. - № 68. - 9 марта. - С. 1; № 69. 10 марта. - С. 1; № 72. 13 марта. - С. 1; № 78. 19 марта. - С. 1.

¹⁴ Гаврилюк М. Н. Крымские страницы жизни художника Евгения Дмитриевича Вучичевича. - С. 16.

¹⁵ П. П. Выставка картин Э. Д. Вучичевича // Киевлянин. - 1911. - № 69. - 10 марта. - С. 3.

¹⁶ [Announcement about the exhibition of Ye. D. Vuchychevych] // Киевлянин. - 1911. - № 78. - 19 марта. - С. 1.

¹⁷ П. П. Выставка картин Э. Д. Вучичевича // Киевлянин. - 1911. - № 69. - 10 марта. - С. 3.

¹⁸ Гаврилюк М. Н. Крымские страницы жизни художника Евгения Дмитриевича Вучичевича. - С. 16.

¹⁹ Театр и искусство. - 1911. - № 15. - 10 апреля. - С. 1; № 24. 12 июня. - С. 1.

²⁰ Державний архів Київської області (далі - ДАКО). - Ф. 2 (Канцелярія Київського цивільного губернатора).

- Оп. 231. - Спр. 17. - Арк. 4-10зв.

²¹ [Announcement about the exhibition of Ye. D. Vuchychevych] // Киевлянин. - 1915. - № 81. - 22 марта. - С. 1; № 92. 5 апреля. - С. 1; № 106. 19 апреля. - С. 1; № 110. 23 апреля. - С. 1.

²² Гаврилюк М. Н. Крымские страницы жизни художника Евгения Дмитриевича Вучичевича. - С. 16.

²³ Каталог картин и этюдов художника Е. Д. Вучичевича. Katalog obrazow i szkicow artysty malarza E. D. Wuczyczewicza. - К.,1915. - С. 3.

²⁴ ДАКО. - Ф. 2. - Оп. 231. - Спр. 17. - Арк. 6.

²⁵ Давыдов М. Выставка картин художника Е. Д. Вучичевича // Киевлянин. - 1915. - № 90. - 3 апреля. - С. 3.

²⁶ [ Б. п.]. Закрытие выставки [Вучичевича] // Киевлянин. - 1915. - № 110. - 23 апреля. - С. 4.

²⁷ Лот № 35: Вучичевич Е. Д. «Сельский пейзаж», 1917 г. - [Електронний ресурс]. - Режим доступу: http:// korners.kiev.ua/lot/12532/

²⁸ Див.: Артюхова Н. Хроника рода Вучичевичей. - [Електронний ресурс]. - Режим доступу: https://www. proza.ru/2019/02/08/1349

²⁹ The statement is based on emails sent by the museums to the author of these lines.

³⁰ ЦДІАК України.- Ф. 2052. - Оп. 1. - Спр. 276. - 1 арк.; Спр. 277. - 2 арк.

³¹ Sumtsov Mykola Fedorovych (1854-1922) - Ukrainian folklorist, ethnographer and literary critic, public figure. Doctor of Philology (1885), Professor (1889), Corresponding Member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences (1905), Titular Member of the National Taras Shevchenko Society (1908); since 1919 - full member of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences (since 1921 - All-Ukrainian Academy of Sciences), member of the Czech Academy of Sciences and Arts and several Slavic scientific societies. Prominent figure in the field of national museology.

³² Perhaps it is about the paintings exhibited in March-April 1910 at the exhibition in Kharkiv, about which M. Sumtsov commended in the local newspaper: Сумцов Н. Ф. Выставка картин г. Вучичевича // Южный край. - 1910. - № 9961. - 11 (24) апреля. - С. 8.

³³ Yevhen Vuchychevych was in Yalta, where at that time there was the exhibition of his works. The exhibition was supposed to end on September 26, 1910, as reported by the local newspapers «Ялтинский вестник» and «Русская Ривьера».

³⁴ It is about the Rector of the Imperial Kharkiv University (now Kharkiv National University named after V. N. Ka- razin) Dmytro Ivanovych Bagaliy (1857-1932). For many years, this scientist was at the head of the committee in the City Council of Kharkiv, which was in charge of the work of the City Museum, he also did a lot for the development of the museum.

³⁵ Ye. Vuchychevych's stay in Crimea in the summer of 1911 is also evidenced by an announcement in the St. Petersburg magazine «Театр и искусство» of Juny 12, in which «tragedian Yuzhanov» offers touring services with a classical repertoire. The artist's temporary address is also indicated there: «Sevastopol, St. George's Monastery». The landscapes around this monastery in Balaklava can be seen in several paintings of Vuchychevych.

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