Dissertation looks into changes of figurative-plastic language in murals and mosaics on Kyiv city buildings during the second half of the XX century. It focuses on the 1960s–1980s when rapid popularity of monumental painting in the urban space started to grow and crystallize its specific stylistic features. Issues of the research are relevant due to ambiguous monumental heritage of the second half of XX century, especially considering their destruction nowadays caused by many factors. The study purpose is to specify and detail the process of figurative-plastic system transformation of murals and mosaics within 1950–2000s and to define iconographic and stylistic features for each stage. The murals classification is based on art analysis.
Preliminary studies are important scientific ground for the research, which mainly comprise Kyiv practice in general development context of this sphere in Ukraine. Dissertation source base consists directly from the monuments themselves, archival documents and testimonies of authors. Conducted visual examination showed mainly unsatisfactory condition of their preservation. As a result photos made immediately or some years later after creation of monumental artwork were used for a holistic coverage of the original author's intention and for the connection between the object and environment.
Most materials have been stored in the Central State Archive-Museum of literature and art of Ukraine. Yet most of them were already published in relevant professional publication, catalogues and directories. New materials have been found among archival photos of the art community, stored nowadays in the Section of monumental and decorative art of Kyiv organization of the National Union of Artists of Ukraine. Photos of a number of previously unknown panels were also found there, that in turn have broadened the list of objects involved in the work.
During the research of influence of socio-cultural phenomena on Kyiv monumental painting the protocols of the Section of monumental and decorative art, official correspondence between leadership of the Union of Artists of Ukraine and Ministry of Culture, personal artists facts were analyzed.
Republican Committee documentation of monumental and decorative art became beneficial for specification of the attribution of a number of works, created between the 1970s and 1980s.
Archival documentation of Kyiv Art Institute (nowadays the National Academy of Fine Arts and Achitecture) was used, chiefly, to explore the revival of educational and creative studio of monumental painting. The studio takes the leading position in the monumental art development of Kyiv in the 1970–1980s.
The research succeeded to specify periodization of the development of the Kyiv murals and mosaics of the second half of the XX century and to point out specific grounds of figurative-plastic language in them. The first post-war (the 1950s) stage is associated with neoclassical architectural style.
The next stage of development covers the longest period of time (the 1960s–1980s) and actively transforms and searches new expressive figurative and plastic solutions. The artistic language formation dates back to the first half of the 1960s and is associated with the rejection of artistic methods of postwar period. Since the middle of the decade, the introduction and rethinking of folk art by professional artists becomes a significant achievement. Various experiments with the introduction of industrial methods for the monumental design of typical buildings should be noted.
Complications of the figurative-plastic system appeared in search for expressive compositional and figurative solutions in the late 1960s. The concepts of holistic monumental design of the streets took place. Gradually, artists found and brought to the mosaics and murals of Kyiv recognizable author's features. In the 1970s and early 1980s, Kyiv monumental art reached its most active pace of development.
The transition period is determined by the late 1980s – early 1990s. The performed objects, to some extent, followed artistic features earned in the past few decades.
During the years of independence, Kyiv monumental art is divided into two central directions– religious and secular. If the development of murals and mosaics in the public buildings during the 1990s was in a state of stagnation, the gradual re-establishment of Kyiv Orthodox tradition led to the active process of sacred art revival in the late 1990s – early 2000s. At the same time, the state takes care of restoration and reconstruction projects of Kyiv monuments with the monumental decoration involvement, which affected the art stylistics. In the recent years, the new urban trend of Street-Art has become actively popularized, represented by another community of painters, in fact, not connected with the center of Kyiv monumental artists.
Key words: mosaics, murals, second half of the XX century, figurative-plastic language, Kyiv.
