Lysenko O. Artist MykolaGe Creativity in the Context of Ukrainian Spiritual Culture.

M. Ge's life and work in close relationship with Ukrainian cultural environment of the last quarter of the nineteenth century are described in the thesis. It deals with the generic, personal, creative artist's relations with Ukraine. The Ukrainian environment role in the formation and development of his spiritual position is characterized. M. Ge has been to various settlements in Ukraine and happened to have often talks with the representatives of advanced Ukrainian intellectuals who were active members of national and cultural revival. In most cases, he was in close relationship with T. Shevchenko who played a significant role in M. Ge ideological thinking and his work. The artist's paintings on historical themes were based on the research of Ukrainian historian M. Kostomarov. The concept identity was discovered in the Russian state formation, monarch figures and creative individual roles in the life of people. Both philosophical foundations of the artist's work in the context of Ukrainian cultural traditions and cordocentryzm are depicted. The conceptual intersections of Ge and Skovoroda ideological, religious and ethical ideas are presented in the particular advantage of the spiritual over the material, dualistic concept in the sphere of two opposing sides existence in a personal self-estimation. The typological features of M. Ge and Shevchenko religious outlooks are highlighted.