Last year, the cultural community celebrated the 150th anniversary of famous Ukrainian painter Herasym Holovkov (1863-1909). It took over a century for his name to become known not only to experts (the 105th anniversary of the artist’s death will be marked on November 18).
The memorial plaque with a relief depicting Holovkov was installed on the facade of the Holovkovs’ house, located in Odesa’s Moldavanka neighborhood, in late October. The future artist spent his childhood and youth years there, at 62 Mykhailivska Street. The relief was created by famous Odesa sculptor Oleksandr Koval. From now on, the name and image of the painter will be part of the architectural space of Odesa.
The implementation of this project was preceded by many years of hard and persistent work of art historians. It is symptomatic that the first ever album-monograph on the artist was released on the day before the opening of the memorial plaque honoring Holovkov. The event was made possible by the legal and moral support of the local government authority, Odesa regional organization of the National Union of Artists of Ukraine, charitable efforts of Serhii Hrynevetsky MP and Odesa’s residents.
The unveiling ceremony drew a large crowd, as it brought together representatives of museums, libraries, creative unions, and local people. The speakers emphasized the undeniable fact that Odesa had always been a pro-European city, and Holovkov was among the first local artists to “hack a window to Europe.”
Holovkov is famous for landscape paintings that convey the spring revival of the Ukrainian forest-steppe as well as the eternally changing sea and the port of Odesa, both warmed by the southern sun. On looking for Holovkov’s work coverage in periodicals, it is clear that his name was silenced immediately after the posthumous exhibition held in 1911: the World War I and the Civil War, coupled with emigration of most of his friends and supporters in 1919 provide a sufficient explanation. Under the Soviets, his legacy, as a representative of the original style that combined impressionism and art nouveau, and therefore did not fit into the doctrine of “socialist realism,” was first mentioned only three decades later, during a retrospective exhibition in Odesa that featured works by Kyriak Kostandi, Tit Dvornikov, and Herasym Holovkov (1941).
Despite the dramatic situation now existing in Ukraine due to military operations in the country’s east, we believe that by developing culture we are laying the foundation for our future. We hope that the establishment of a monument honoring the outstanding artist who sacrificed the entirety of his short life for art and glorified Odesa on the continent will show the uniqueness of this neighborhood of Odesa. It is important to ensure that Moldavanka become a stage on the city’s tourist routes, because Odesa’s history has more to it than legendary gangsters, as the city was also home to outstanding individuals who we should respect.
Volodymyr Kudlach is initiator of the installation of the Holovkov memorial plaque in Odesa
