Zhugan Vladimir Alexandrovich

Soviet Ukrainian artist, landscape painter. Honored Artist of the USSR. Member of the USSR Academy of Arts. Vladimir Alexandrovich Zhugan was born on August 27, 1926 in the village of Lihovka in the Dnepropetrovsk region, in the family of workers. From 1946 to 1951 years. trained at the Dnepropetrovsk Art College with such outstanding teachers as Alexander Semenovich Kuko (student of Fedor Grigoryevich Krichevsky, classic of Ukrainian modernism), Nikolai Stepanovich Pogrebnyak (whose creative activity became the link between the realistic school of pre-revolutionary and Soviet art), as well as the honored artist Ukraine Mikhail Nikitovich Panin (trained in the skill of Ilya Efimovich Repin). After graduating from the art school (in 1951), the young painter actively joins the creative life of Dnipropetrovsk artists, finding time to work with talented young people in the art studio at the Palace of Pioneers of Dneprodzerzhinsk (1951-1956). The skill of Vladimir Alexandrovich grew every year, his paintings, glorifying the beauty of their native land, were exhibited at regional and republican exhibitions. The main features of the landscape of Vladimir Alexandrovich – a display of space, greatness and beauty of nature. In his heart he is an artist-poet, on the easel of which were born both expressive in color, and emotional, musical, deep landscapes. Favorite motifs of the painter are the types of Ukrainian forests, lakes, rivers and mountains. And these are not just images of any places, they are sensations and meaningful impressions. A special place in his work is occupied by the lyrical landscapes of Dnepropetrovsk and Poltava region – the places where the artist was born and grew up: “Autumn Oak” (1969), “River Orel” (1970), “Grechka blossoms” (1973), “On the Outskirts of the Village” ( 1979) “Ripe bread” (1981). The artist’s desire to deeper convey the beauty of Ukrainian nature, sung by poet Taras Shevchenko, resulted in numerous trips to the homeland of the Kobzar. The artist was here at all seasons, worked hard and persistently in search of new variants of picturesque and imaginative solutions: “Shevchenko’s Oak” (1962), “Klenki” (1958), “Three Krynitsa” (1960). The same feelings are also visible in his memorial landscapes: “The House in which My Countryman LI Brezhnev lived” (1985), “The Monument of History” (1970), “The History Museum of the Korsun-Shevchenko Battle” (1964). Great influence was exerted on Vladimir Alexandrovich’s creative trips, organized by the Dnepropetrovsk branch of the Union of Artists. In a series of Crimean landscapes, the painter also depicted the changing beauty of the Black Sea coast: “Swallow’s Nest” (1975), the lofty mountain “Crimean Landscape” (1980). In these works reflected the ability of Zhugan to convey the inimitable color of the places where he happened to visit. When in the early 60’s. Dnepropetrovsk has turned into the largest industrial center of Ukraine, Zhugan has become one of the founders of the industrial landscape, coming to an interpretation of the industrial environment in a special way, seeing in it an aesthetic value. The artist’s talented creative discovery was the creation of an industrial and natural landscape in the traditions of socialist realism, but with the use of impressionistic techniques: the “New Construction of Dneprodzerzhinsk” (1974), “Outskirts of the City” (1958), “New District” (1972), “Cheryomushki” (1965) . Through industrial landscapes, Zhugan expressed his artistic understanding of the issue “man and the environment in the conditions of technological progress”: “On the construction of the Dneprodzerzhinskaya HPP” (1960), “The Dnieper Canal – Donbass” (1975). Impressed with the scope of construction, Vladimir Alexandrovich visited many new plants many times. The result were paintings, telling about the great changes taking place in the country. People on the industrial landscapes of Vladimir Alexandrovich are in labor rhythm and at the same time they, just like the audience, admire the grandeur of what is happening. Zhugan writes an industrial landscape not as a report from a construction site, but as a dynamic of movement, giving rise to a feeling of vivacity, energy and spiritual recovery. The industrial landscape brought the master of Dneprodzerzhinsk success and recognition at many national and international exhibitions. Vladimir Aleksandrovich Zhugan the first painter of Dneprodzerzhinsk, awarded the title of Honored Artist of Ukraine (2006). His works are kept in art museums of Dnepropetrovsk, Donetsk, Kamenetz-Podolsky, private collections in many countries of the world. Zhugan Vladimir Alexandrovich passed away on September 15, 2008.

Photo: Zhugan V. “Spring”, 1974.