The Hutsul-Pokuttia folk icons on glass as a source of inspiration for contemporary Ukrainian painting and iconography

Abstract

Since the 1990s, artists in Ukraine have deliberately sought to draw upon ethnic sources as iconic markers of national identity. Some artists have become interested in Hutsul and Pokuttia folk painting on glass, which was prevalent in the second half of the nineteenth century in the Carpathian region. The article highlights the peculiarities of the revival and creative interpretation of this tradition in the artistic environment of Lviv. The icon painter Ostap Lozynskyi made a significant contribution to the popularisation of this type of folk art. He developed an almost exact reproduction of ancient models and created more than 3,000 copies in this style, which he then used to create new types of family icons. In this way, the artist revived the tradition of the domestic glass icon in the homes of Ukrainians. While in the past Hutsul and Pokuttia folk art was only a regional phenomenon, it is now becoming recognisable throughout Ukraine and abroad. A number of Lviv artists – Oksana Vynnychok, Oksana Andrushchenko, Oksana Romaniv-Triska, Taras Lozynskyi, and Ulyana Krekhovets – have developed the paintings on glass of sacred subjects in their own style. The artists draw iconography from familiar ancient sources and present it in varying degrees of decorativeness. They apply their own creative approaches, expanding the thematic and technological possibilities of the development of this trend. Overall, the Lviv centre of contemporary glass painting demonstrates the revival of the folk icon tradition in modified forms.