Shapoval Ivan Leontievich

Soviet and Ukrainian painter. Member of the USSR Academy of Arts. He was born on September 10, 1939 in Dneprodzerzhinsk, Dnepropetrovsk region. He graduated from Dnepropetrovsk Art College (1967) and Kharkov Art and Industry Institute (1973). Works in the field of easel painting. He studied under G. Chernyavsky, A. Konstantinopolsky, A. Martynets. Since 1972, he actively participates in exhibitions – regional, national, foreign. Member of the National Assembly of Ukraine since 1988. Lives and works in Sumy. The artist’s works were demonstrated at numerous exhibitions both in Ukraine and in other countries. Ivan Shapoval is an artist with a poetic outlook and attitude, his philosophy is the search and image of the beauty and harmony of man and nature. Unlike many artists, Ivan Shapoval professes his style, formed even in the conditions of “harsh realism,” which increasingly, since the late 80’s of the twentieth century, acquires a palpable lyrical, poetic color. In recent years, the artist, through bright decorativeness, tries to emphasize not only the external beauty, but also the deep meaning of the beauty of nature. The combination of realism and decorativeness emphasizes the artist’s creative style, the diverse themes of his works, the main genre of which is the landscape, and nature remains one of the main sources of the artist’s creative inspiration, where beauty exists as something absolute, eternal.

Photo: Ivan Shapoval, Buzok 1999