From the source of the native land ...
There are individuals identified by a special mission on earth. They contain a source of outstanding knowledge, professional level, ability to express weighty opinion, to lead others. Such people include the People's Artist of Ukraine, laureate of the Taras Shevchenko National Prize Viktor Ivanovich Kovtun.
To understand the role of Kovtun in the territory of Ukrainian art and culture, you need to go through his life and creative path. A future artist comes from the picturesque Chernihiv region, the village of Mezin, where in 1958 his peasant family started his life. The area was famous for the preservation of folk traditions, workable, benevolent people. "Our family has always adhered to Christian customs, sang Ukrainian songs, revered folk rites. Ukrainian culture, respect for our ancestors filled the environment in which I grew up. Mother always decorated the house with flowers, embroideries, painted utensils, she knew how to instill interest in beauty, "Kovtun recalled."
Viktor Ivanovich mastered art education gradually, beginning with the Kharkov Art School, where the foundation for graphic arts was laid by the teachers V.Lapinim and G.Korobovim. After graduating from the Kharkov Institute of Art and Industry in 1984, the department of monumental decorative painting, Kovtun confidently went his artistic path. Special education in the studio of famous artists O. Konstantinopilsky, A. Khmelnitsky, L.Chernov contributed to a philosophical attempt to understand the reality, lay the foundation of the worldview of the artist. So working capacity, the ability to combine popular Ukrainian traditions with modern innovations, provided the artist the opportunity to create his own creative style.
Artistic achievements were recognized by the state and in 2002. Kovtun received the title of People's Artist of Ukraine, the post of professor at the department of drawing of the university where he studied and received a diploma. But we should recall one very significant event from the student life of Viktor Kovtun. "In the third year his personal exhibition was held in the Art Museum of Kharkov. This landmark artistic event testified to the natural creative gift of the artist "- remembered in a conversation, his brother Sergei Ivanovich Kovtun.
Constant work on creative works, grinding skill, participating in exhibitions, creating personal ones brought the artist a reputation and authority. Kovtun becomes a recognized artist and public figure. 1988 was marked by the entry into the National Union of Artists of Ukraine, and in 1996. He is elected a corresponding member of the Petrovsky Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg, six years later, he is appointed a full member of the International Association of the Academy of Traditional Information at the United Nations. In 2007 he received the post of academician of the Brest National Academy of Construction, Architecture and Art. Assistance in studying, learning the creative directions of various artistic trends, cultures of different peoples were crowned with significant series of works in which the history of the Ukrainian people was boiling.
Despite all the creative workload, Viktor Ivanovich persistently engages in public activities. He arranges plein air, helps to open galleries, supports new talents of Kharkiv region. Such features as humanity, responsiveness, generosity formed the glory of a highly respectable leader, and organizational abilities crowned the election of Kovtun chairman of the board of the Kharkiv organization NSHU.
Kovtun consistently popularizes the traditions of the Kharkov painting school combining inherited with modern innovations. Gradually the Kharkov creative community with a gravitation towards monumental vision and decorative took a certain place on the background of the fine arts of Ukraine.
"Tracing the artist's creative path, one can name symbolic exhibitions, in which his creative growth can be traced. First of all, this is an opening day at the National Art Museum of Ukraine, the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation, the Lviv Art Gallery / now Voznitsky /, repeatedly in the National Union of Artists of Ukraine ", - V.Konoval, Honored Artist of Ukraine V.Konoval, Chairman of the Board of the Kyiv organization of the National Union of Artists of Ukraine, said in conversation. A number of trips to the open air indicated by significant creative achievements. Each trip is a conscious disclosure of outstanding historical events, a reflection of unique landscapes, the creation of portraits of bright personalities. The palette of the artist is filled with harmony, the effects of light-shadow reflections, an exciting mood.
Valentina Efremova art critic, Honored Worker of Culture of Ukraine, holder of the Order of St. Barbara, laureate of the Prize. Platon of Beletsky.
28.05.2018