Hnizdovsky reburied in Ukraine, commemorative art exhibit held in Lviv (01/01/06)

Hnizdovsky reburied in Ukraine, commemorative art exhibit held in Lviv

by Ika Casanova

PARSIPPANY, N.J. - The urn with the ashes of painter and graphic artist Jacques Hnizdovsky (1915-1985) - one of the foremost woodcut artists in America - was transferred from New York to Ukraine for reburial, in accordance with the last wishes of the artist whose creative legacy forms a valuable part of the permanent collections of leading American museums and institutions, and, since 1990, the museums of Ukraine.

The urn was transferred from the columbarium of the Episcopal Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City to Lychakiv Cemetery in Lviv, where reburial took place on November 5, 2005. Both New York's renowned Gothic cathedral and Lviv's historic cemetery have a unique place in the architectural, social and cultural history of their respective cities.

The site of the Hnizdovsky reburial is the main section of Lviv's landmark cemetery - the final resting place of prominent Ukrainian civic and cultural figures - diagonally across from the burial place of Ukraine's renowned writer Ivan Franko (1856-1916).

A black granite gravestone at the site carries the inscription - "Yakiv Hnizdovsky, graphic artist - painter, 1915-1985." Above the inscription is an oval bas-relief, depicting the artist at work on a woodcut, which is based on the 1981 work titled "Self-Portrait."

Officiating at the reburial ceremony was Bishop Ihor Vozniak, then acting administrator of the archeparchy of Lviv, and currently the newly appointed archbishop of the Lviv Archeparchy.

Present at the reburial were Stephanie Hnizdovsky, the artist's widow, and daughter Mira Hnizdovsky, some 30 members of the late artist's extended family in Ukraine, as well as Ukrainian National Deputies and representatives of Ukrainian culture.

The process of reburial began three years ago at the request of Mrs. Hnizdovsky and her daughter. Helping in the effort to transfer the artist's remains to Ukraine, a process that involved lengthy bureacratic procedures and diplomatic negotiations, were U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine John E. Herbst, Roman Ferencevych of Alexandria, Va., long-time editor at Voice of America and a close personal friend of the artist; and Viktoria Hubska, director of the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America (UCCA), Kyiv Bureau.

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The solemn occasion of the reburial was followed later on in the day with the opening of a commemorative art exhibition of Jacques Hnizdovsky's work at the National Museum of Lviv (now known as the Andrey Sheptytsky National Museum of Lviv).

The exhibition, which opened November 5, and was slated to run through November 27, 2005, was extended until the end of December, to accomodate the very high viewership.

A total of 50 works were on exhibit, comprising works from the collection of the National Museum of Lviv as well as works on loan from the National Fine Arts Museum of Ukraine in Kyiv and the Ternopil Regional Museum.

An exhibition catalogue titled "Jacques Hnizdovsky" and subtitled, "Commemorative exhibition held on the occasion of the reburial of the artist in his ancestral homeland and on the occasion of the 90th anniversary of the day of his birth," came out as a publication of the National Museum of Lviv, the United States Embassy in Ukraine and the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America. The publishing of the 60-page, bilingual English-Ukrainian, catalogue was made possibe with the financial support of the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine.

In his forward to the exhibition catalogue Ambassador John E. Herbst wrote the following:

"Jacques Hnizdovsky returns to his homeland leaving behind him in the United States a rich cultural legacy. His works are treasured parts of the collections of our finest museums, including the National Museum of American Art, the Museum of Fine Art in Boston and the White House Collection. Now citizens of his beloved Ukraine will have an opportunity to appreciate his direct and sometimes amusing images, which often draw upon the life of his native land.

"Hnizdovsky follows in the tradition of so many immigrants to America who have fused the artistic traditions of their homelands with the energey of the New World to weave a tapestry that enriches all our lives and brings our countries together. To his family and those who work to carry on his legacy, I offer my best wishes and congratulations."

Copies of the exhibition catalogue were sent out to over 100 museums throughout Ukraine, courtesy of the UCCA Kyiv Bureau, in an effort to further acquaint Ukrainians with the artistic legacy of Hnizdovsky. Also, over 100 posters were printed in conjunction with the exhibition.

The 50 works that were on exhibit at the National Museum of Lviv as part of the commemorative exhibition had been donated to the permanent collections of the aforementioned three museums by Mrs. Hnizdovsky and Mira Hnizdovsky in 1990. Also donated to the National Museum of Lviv was a bust of the late artist, the work of Ukrainian Canadian sculptor Leo Mol (Leonid Molodozhanyn) which was done in 1970.

The reburial ceremony and the exhibition opening received extensive coverage in the Ukrainian media, including press, radio and television. Articles and interviews appeared in the Lviv newspapers Lvivska Hazeta, Vysokyi Zamok and Expres as well as in the Kyiv-based Ukrainian daily Den and in its English-language weekly digest The Day. Channel 5 of Kyiv supplied live television coverage of both events throughout Ukraine.

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A native of Ukraine, Jacques Hnizdovsky was born on January 27, 1915, in the village of Pylypche, Ternopil oblast, and studied art in the academies in Warsaw and Zagreb. He immigrated to the United States as a post-World War II refugee in 1949, settling in Saint Paul, Minn., where he worked as a graphic designer. In 1950, he moved to New York with the aim of establishing himself as an independent artist.

Although best known as a woodcut artist, Hnizdovsky worked in oil painting, bookplate design, book illustration and other media.

Hnizdovsky, whose reputation as an artist grew steadily, had attained an international reputation by the end of the 1960s. His work was exhibited in major exhibitions abroad, including the Soviet Union (1963), Japan (1967), Italy (1972), Canada (1983, 1985) and Ukraine (1990).

Hnizdovsky's work has been widely celebrated through prizes, fellowships, exhibitions, publications and museum acquistions.

The artist's various awards from prestigious instititons include the Associated American Artists (eleven awards from 1959-1983), Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (1961), Boston Printmakers (1962) and the National Academy of Design (1963), among others.

In 1976 a fully illustrated catalogue raisonné titled "Jacques Hnizdovsky: Woodcuts and Etchings" was produced by Abe M. Tahir Jr., owner of the Tahir Galleries in New Orleans and Beverly Hills, with a foreword by Peter A. Wick, longtime curator of the department of printing and graphic arts of Houghton Library at Harvard University. A revised edition, titled "Jacque Hnizdovsky: Woodcuts and Etchings," appeared in 1987.

By the end of his lifetime in 1985, Hnizdovsky was represented in major public, insitution and private collections, among them: Butler Institute of American Art; Chrysler Museum; Duke University Museum of Art; Library of Congress; New Orleans Museum of Art; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; The National Collection of Fine Arts, Washington, D.C.; New York Public Library; Philadelphia Museum of Art; Davison Art Center, Wesleyan University; Yale Univeresity; Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art, Chicago; and, The Ukrainain Museum, New York.

Hnizdovsky was reintroduced to Ukraine in 1990, in exhibitions in museums in Kyiv, Lviv and Ternopil and again in 2005, on the occasion of the commemorative exhibition which opened November 5, 2005, at the National Museum of Lviv.

A museum dedicated to Jacques Hnizdovsky and his work exists in the artist's ancestral village of Pylypche, Borshchiv region, western Ukriane.

(For additional information on the artist, visit the website: www.hnizdovsky.com).

Speakers at the Hnizdovsky reburial

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