"Mysterious Night Podil" - the romance of old Kiev in the paintings of Yuri Vakulenko. Personal exhibition of the artist Yuri Vakulenko "Dotyki - Are there any expert examinations of the works of the museum collection?

Yuri Evgenievich Vakulenko (born 1957, Nizhny Tagil) - artist-painter. Since 2004 - General Director of the Kiev National Museum of Russian Art. For 10 years (1993-2004) he headed the Center for Restoration and Expertise of the National Reserve Kiev-Pechersk Lavra.

Biography

In 1977 he graduated from the Baku Art School named after. Azima Azim-zadeh.

In 1980 he moved to Kiev. In 1986 he graduated as an artist-restorer under the direction of V. Budnikov and A. Kiselev.

In 1988 he created the creative group "39.2 °".

Since 1988 he has been actively involved in exhibitions. In 1993 - 1995, personal exhibitions were held in Italy, Hungary and Spain.

Awards and recognition

Honored Worker of Culture of Ukraine, Associate Professor of the Department of Expertise of the National Academy of Leading Personnel of Culture and Arts of Ukraine, full member of the Petrovsk Academy of Science and Arts, full member of the International Committee of Museums ICOM UNESCO, since 2007 - Corresponding Member of the Petrovsk Academy of Science and Arts. Chevalier of the Order of Carl Faberge (badge No. 17, 2007, Carl Faberge Memorial Fund).

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An excerpt characterizing Vakulenko, Yuri Evgenievich

- C "est bien! Faites entrer monsieur de Beausset, ainsi que Fabvier, [Good! Let de Beausset come in, and Fabvier too.]" He said to the adjutant, nodding his head.
- Oui, Sire, [I listen, sir.] - and the adjutant disappeared through the door of the tent. Two valets quickly dressed His Majesty, and he, in a blue guards uniform, with firm, quick steps went into the reception room.
Boss at this time was in a hurry with his hands, setting the gift he had brought from the empress on two chairs, right in front of the emperor's entrance. But the emperor so unexpectedly soon got dressed and left that he did not have time to fully prepare a surprise.
Napoleon immediately noticed what they were doing and guessed that they were not ready yet. He didn’t want to take away the pleasure of surprise him. He pretended not to see Monsieur Bosse, and called Fabvier over to him. Napoleon listened, sternly frowning and silently, to what Fabvier told him about the courage and loyalty of his troops, who fought at Salamanca on the other side of Europe and had only one thought - to be worthy of their emperor, and one fear - not to please him. The result of the battle was sad. Napoleon made ironic remarks during Fabvier's story, as if he had not imagined that things could have gone any differently in his absence.
“I have to fix it in Moscow,” Napoleon said. - A tantot, [Goodbye.] - he added and called de Beausse, who at that time had already managed to prepare a surprise, placing something on the chairs, and covered something with a blanket.
De Bosset bowed deeply with that French court bow, which only the old servants of the Bourbons knew how to bow, and approached, handing the envelope.

An artist-restorer by specialty and an expert in painting by old masters and antiques, Yuri Vakulenko has been heading the capital's National Museum of Russian Art for 10 years. According to Vakulenko, the collection of the museum he heads is the third in the post-Soviet space after the Tretyakov Gallery and the Russian Museum in St. Petersburg. He himself calls himself the keeper of rarities, priceless works, and the museum is a museum house, because this building housed the Tereshchenko family's mansion, where only two halls were allocated for the gallery. The office with hung paintings also resembles a museum hall - here Yuri Vakulenko shared with Capital the peculiarities of the museum's internal kitchen, the prospects of the branch, and told how patrons help.

- Is it possible to evaluate the museum's collection in banknotes? What are the top jobs?

- This is somewhat incorrect. In terms of money, the work is more or less objectively evaluated by the auction, but works of the same level as ours simply do not appear at the auction. The museum has canvases that can cost € 10 million and € 50 million. This is the case when art can be called priceless, that is, very expensive. Even the fact that paintings belong to the collection of a respectable museum increases the value of the work by an order of magnitude. However, it is impossible to own them - it is state property. And any item that leaves the museum illegally is put on the wanted list. About 600 works of our museum were taken out by the Germans during the war, and there are still no traces of them. The main works were then evacuated - mainly icons and art of the second half of XIX century. Of the 13 thousand exhibits, about 5 thousand today make up the pearl of the collection. The most valuable are the works of artists of the first echelon - Shishkin (five significant works, the crown of his work), Vrubel, Aivazovsky, Vereshchagin, Vasnetsov, Repin.

- Of these 13 thousand, only 900 works can be seen in the halls of the museum. How do you decide what to show to the general public?

- Our museum is already 92 years old, the permanent exhibition has crystallized for decades. Despite small changes (15-20%), it remains stable. We increase the number of displays through temporary exhibitions and partially change the exposition, showing 2-3 thousand exhibits per year. For example, graphics cannot be on display for more than three months, they must "rest". We also organize extended exhibitions directly in the halls; this year, for the 170th anniversary of Repin, we will strengthen his hall with his own masterpieces. The exposition of icons remains unchanged - our small but valuable collection.

- You probably follow the situation on the world art market. What are the current trends in the segment of Russian art?

- The works of artists of the first echelon enjoy a steady success. Except, perhaps, Vrubel, who, despite his fertility, rarely gets to auctions. Works of the first order appear, so they immediately leave. The crisis did not affect prices, their value is measured in millions and annually increases by 10-20%. Recently, a segment of works by artists from the 1940-1960s has suffered, for example Sergei Shishko, Nikolai Glushchenko, as well as contemporary authors. Until 2007, there was great interest in them both in Ukraine and in London, New York, the prices of works were growing, and now they are not in demand. This is due to the fact that the main buyers were Russian and Ukrainian collectors who are now not ready to spend money. Collecting requires calmness, silence and stability.

- Are there any expert examinations of the works of the museum collection?

- As a rule, the painting gets to the museum from well-known sources. We study some works, carry out re-attribution, if we are not sure of the authorship of the artist. We do not conduct technological expertise, since there is no such possibility - only scientific research. The collections of all museums contain different works and it cannot be said that all of them are originals. For example, the famous collector David Sigalov bequeathed to us about 400 works, and only a third of them are unconditional originals, while the museum keeps everything. However, the main fund contains exhibits that have a clear designation, provenance and all the necessary characteristics of museum value.

- In what condition are the works? Do they require restoration?

- We have a very stable collection. For 10 years, in my memory, not a single work has been restored in an emergency condition. The museum has a restoration group that periodically examines the works. It is believed that once every five years, the work may require restoration. We bring some works from the collections into an expositional form: we duplicate them on a new base, remove deformations so that they can be shown - in new exhibitions or an updated exhibition.

- Since 2009, the museum has a branch - the Chocolate House. Why don't you show works from the collection there?

- At the moment there are no necessary security conditions to show the permanent exhibition from the collection. If we have seven security lines in a museum, there are only three - this is not enough. We inherited the Chocolate House as a children's art gallery, but there is no social order for this direction now. Therefore, we have reformatted it into an art center - we hold exhibitions, concerts, slowly raise the bar and change the ideology. But the children's direction remained a priority. We want to create a conservative-modern educational, cultural and artistic center - to expand the lecture hall, concert activities, because a lot of creative teams do not have their own venues for performances. The main thing is that they already know about him. At a good time, the Chocolate House is visited by about 11 thousand people a year.

- What is the museum's budget and main costs?

- In general, the budget is about UAH 4 million. These are utilities (about 1 million UAH), security (more than 700 thousand UAH) and salaries for 100 employees. These protected articles are funded by the state in our country, although we have already allocated part of our own funds to pay bills, otherwise our heating may not be turned on. In 2012, there was already a precedent: we were turned off two weeks earlier for debts, employees and visitors were freezing.

- What do you need funds for today?

- We need to renovate the museum building - the old glass roofs that are located above the Shishkin hall and on which condensation accumulates. This requires about UAH 1 million. Also in the Chocolate House you need to make a roof and a foundation, which requires about UAH 5 million. In addition, money is required for the installation of an alarm - about 700 thousand UAH. And at our own expense, taking into account the realities of today, we want to equip a fortified storage-bomb shelter in the museum.

- What is the museum's attendance and how did the situation in the country affect it?

- In all museums there is a decrease in the number of visitors by up to 50%. Last year we had 70 thousand guests. At the moment, we already have about 42 thousand art connoisseurs. There were more people than usual in the summer - the situation stabilized a little, and we opened the exhibition “In a Single Space”. They did not close even in winter - except for literally a couple of days when the metro was closed. In successful years, for example, when the anniversary exhibition of Aivazovsky was held, the museum was visited by 100 thousand people. However, for our museum, located in the old building, there is a limit of attendance - we cannot miss more than 120 thousand.

- Now the museum shows paintings by Anatoly Krivolap. What else are you planning for this year?

- On September 30, an interesting project of an artist of a kind of satirical direction Vladislav Shereshevsky opens, whose works are also in our funds. In November, we are preparing an exhibition for Lermontov's anniversary, where we will present Shishkin's painting "In the Wild North" - it is an illustration for the poet's poem.

UAH 4 million is the average annual budget of the Kiev National Museum of Russian Art

- What should be the budget for a museum exhibition to be successful?

- We did a good private project "Two centuries" with the release of an album. Its budget is about $ 100 thousand. This is even a lot. On average, to prepare a high-quality museum project, UAH 50-70 thousand is enough.

- Is participation in international projects beneficial for the museum?

- Based on the financial component - yes. We receive royalties. In particular, one of the foreign fees was used for the publication of Kiev-Vrubel. From the point of view of popularization, this does not give much, it practically does not affect recognition abroad and attendance at home. We mainly worked with Russian institutions, although recently there have been problems with the return of exhibits. For this reason, after Shishkin's exhibition in Tretyakov Gallery we did not participate in the next two exhibitions. We also work with western partners - Finland, where Shishkin's exhibition is planned, and the Baltic countries. A foreign project is usually prepared for a long time - two to three years.

- Do you have a personal art collection?

- When I was still working in the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, I had a small collection of a sacred character - these are the personal icons of St. George the Victorious. Knowing my little weakness, my friends often give them to me. My favorite icon hangs in my office - this Georgy moves with me from office to office. I somehow unexpectedly noticed the icon in an antique shop and told my friends. And quite unexpectedly, they gave it to me for my 40th birthday. This Russian icon of the early 19th century is original in that George is depicted half-length, while usually he is painted either in full height, or on horseback. This is my kind of talisman. And by the way, this icon was used to consecrate the Church of St. George near the Kiev railway station. My adult children are also engaged in art management, organizing auctions, communicating with contemporary artists and collect their works, as well as the works of Ukrainian artists of the 1960-1970s.

Yuriy Vakulenko is a Ukrainian painter, an expert on antiques. Since 2004 - Director National Museum Russian art. Studied at the Kiev Art Institute (now the National Academy visual arts and architecture), who graduated with a degree in art restorer. He worked in the center of restoration and examination of the Kiev-Pechersky reserve, the director of which he became in 1995. In 1988 he created the art association "39.2 °". Since 1990, personal exhibitions have been held in Ukraine, Italy, Hungary and Spain. The paintings are in the museum collections of the Kiev-Pechersky Reserve, the National Museum of Russian Art, in private collections. The works were exhibited at MacDougall's and Corners auctions. Corresponding member of the Petrovskaya Academy of Sciences and Arts in St. Petersburg, Associate Professor of the Department of Expertise of the Academy of Culture, Honored Worker of Culture.

11/26/2014 in the gallery "Mystetska Zbirka" will open an exhibition of new works by the artist Yuri Vakulenko

IN new series "Mysterious Night Podil" Yuriy Vakulenko embodies the romantic atmosphere of old Kiev. The artist chooses corners known only to the locals. From under his brush appears the Podolsk "Seafarer", the golden royal house in the courtyard on Yaroslavskaya or the "blue" entrance on Yurkovskaya. Abandoned buildings with gaping black holes instead of windows and doors also come to life on Vakulenko's canvases.

The hem of Yuri Vakulenko is - as in reality - cracked and shabby. But through cracks, rain streams and wrinkles a bright color breaks through - deep blue, emerald, blue or gold. The secrets of Podil are revealed to the artist when people go home, lights are lit, and the last tram rings ... And then, in the silence of the night, Podolsk streets and houses tell a thousand and one stories of many generations of Kievans.

Yuri Vakulenko: “Relatively recently, I settled in Podol, in a house that has more than a century of history. Day after day, returning home, I learned more and more secrets of the ancient Podil. Sometimes I went outside late in the evening and looked into the darkest and most mysterious places, discovering old houses that come to life at night and shine with inner light, pushing schematic and faceless new buildings off the map and dissolving in the darkness. "

About the author: Yuriy Vakulenko is a Ukrainian painter, an expert on antiques. Since 2004 - Director of the National Museum of Russian Art. He studied at the Kiev Art Institute, which he graduated with a degree in art restorer. He worked in the center of restoration and examination of the Kiev-Pechersky reserve, the director of which he became in 1995. In 1988 he created the art association "39.2 °". Since 1990, personal exhibitions have been held in Ukraine, Italy, Hungary and Spain. The paintings are in the museum collections of the Kiev-Pechersky Reserve, the National Museum of Russian Art, in private collections. The works were exhibited at the MacDougall "s and" Corners "auctions. Corresponding member of the Petrovskaya Academy of Sciences and Arts in St. Petersburg, associate professor of the Department of Expertise of the Academy of Culture, Honored Worker of Culture.

Mon - Sun: from 11:00 to 18:00

Free admission

Gallery "Mystetska Zbirka"

kiev, st. Tereschenkovskaya, 13, entrance to the arch 2nd courtyard.

Tel .: +380501364737, +380442341427

[email protected] / www.artzbirka.com

On May 21, the Soviart gallery opens a personal exhibition of the artist Yuri Vakulenko "Dotyki". It presents three projects of the painter - "Dotyki", "Vibration Quadrum" and "Colored Cities".

The Dotyki project is a series of works - touches in which the artist has a direct tactile dialogue with the canvas. Like a child who begins to discover reality by touch, impulsively touches everything that interests him, the artist comes into contact with the world of the image at first empirically - by touching the surface of the canvas with his hand. He feels, tactilely “tastes” the working surface of the canvas with his palm, leaving a color print of his hand on it and receiving from this contact the first impression, a fresh creative impulse. Then the painter takes a brush in his hands to saturate it with semantic and colorful nuances and give the print a figurative completeness. As a result, "Dotyki" turns into openwork-woven compositions with intricate loops, arcs, curls, reminiscent of patterns and lines on human palms.

Four large canvases with multiple handprints of the master - white on white, blue on blue, red on red and black on black - are the central rhythm-forming part of the entire project. Around this center there are chaotically located miniatures of various mood, color, texture and size. It is curious that some of these works were written on printed prints, for example, on invitations to art exhibitions. The artist seems to be "trying" by touch different surfaces, any that only come to hand, including those that were created and saturated with information before him.

Vakulenko's project "Quadrum Vibration" has already been presented to the public at last year's "Mystetsky Arsenal" and the artist's previous personal exhibition "Contemplation". This year the painter exhibits two new triptychs from this series - white on white and gold on gray. In the artistic knowledge of the world, the artist uses different methods, including the Suprematist. The strict beauty and harmony of squares, first sung by Kazimir Malevich, also attracts Vakulenko. But in his interpretation, the squares are multi-colored and vibrating. They combine the frozen mathematics of precise proportions and the living energy of vibration of color and lines. After all, it is vibration that, according to the artist, is the basis, the embodiment of life as such. In addition, Vakulenko's squares also have a hidden, secret meaning, visible to the eye only under ultraviolet light.

Several works from the cycle "Colored Cities", created by artist over the years, presented at the exhibition for the birthday of Kiev as a tribute to the artist's beloved and hometown... The first work from this cycle "Green City" was written by him in the early 90s, and the last two were created quite recently. Despite the huge temporal distance between the works presented, they are united by a common symbolic reading of the theme of the city. In the cities of Vakulenko you will not see people, they do not recognize familiar outlines or well-known architectural structures. It looks more like colored "prints" of the soul or character of the city in its different states and moods. “The city is a living organism,” says Yuri Vakulenko. “It changes mood and color many times a day. How a person changes their expression. "
And one more "highlight" from the artist's creative heritage will be exhibited in "Soviart". "An energetic portrait of one familiar girl", the author's interpretation of the image of the great Gioconda Leonardo, was created by the artist almost 20 years ago. Last year, this work was successfully exhibited in Paris, and this year it will decorate the artist's personal exhibition in Kiev.

Biography

Awards and recognition

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An excerpt characterizing Vakulenko, Yuri Evgenievich