Transcarpathia in the painting of Fyodor Manailo

Fyodor Manaylo demonstrated a special look at folk art and the life of the Ukrainian people in his work. The artist was born in 1910 in Transcarpathia, was educated in Prague, where he entered the Higher School of Art and Industry. Manailo's main activity, which brought him a regular income, was teaching. He taught his students the decorative arts in Uzhgorod: first at a craft school, and then at a college. The artist was engaged in social activities, participated in the organization of cultural institutions. In addition, thanks to his efforts, an unusual trend in folk art has been preserved in Ukraine - the decoration of melons.

The aesthetics of Manailo is based on the ideals of beauty that prevailed among the people. In his system of values, an important component is the economy of means of expression, leading to simplicity, noticeable not only in paintings, but also in frescoes and mosaics, with which the author decorated cinemas, restaurants and other architectural objects. In 1947, the artist began to collaborate with publishers, creating graphic works that were used as book illustrations. At first it was the story of Ivan Franko "Zakhar Berkut", then Manailo illustrated the works of Mark Cheremshina and Olga Kobylyanska. Most of the paintings are devoted to the Transcarpathian theme, but in the 60s a cycle of watercolors was painted, the main character of which was Crimea. At the same time, Manailo mastered monotype - a separate type of graphics that involves applying paint to a flat surface. Only one copy can be obtained from the printed form, the rest become very pale and of poor quality. The master experimented with monotype, printed color works with a smooth, somewhat blurred outline.

Manailo returned to some topics more than once. In different years, paintings were painted depicting a woman called "Hutsulka". The author in a new way studies the image already used earlier in his work, each time revealing his potential in a different way. In such works, it is important for the artist to convey the ethnographic details that he presents on the canvas very reliably, emphasizing the national flavor. You can always find paintings by Ukrainian artists on our website in this section.