(New York, NY) — The exhibition, A Generous Vision: A Major Gift of Works by Mychajlo Moroz celebrates both the achievement of Mychajlo Moroz (1904-1992), an outstanding Ukrainian landscape painter and the exceptional generosity of Irena Moroz, the artist’s widow, who recently donated 127 paintings to The Ukrainian Museum. The exhibition consists of 72 paintings selected from this major donation, which comprises one of the largest gifts of works by a single artist to the Museum in its 32 year history. The exhibition will open on January 25, 2009 at The Ukrainian Museum, located at 222 East 6th Street, in Manhattan’s East Village and will be on view through September 6, 2009. Admission: $8.00 adults; $6.00 seniors; $6.00 students (with valid ID); children under 12 — free; Museum members — free. Additional information can be found at www.ukrainainmuseum.org or by calling the Museum at (212) 228-0110.
Moroz’s art is predicated on his exploration and celebration of nature, making him one of the preeminent Ukrainian landscape painters of the 20th century. His productive, distinguished career consists of three major phases — his early years in Ukraine (1923–1944), his years as an immigrant in Germany (1944–1949), and his years in America (1949–1992).
During the 1920s and early 1930s, Moroz was first a student of and then an assistant to Oleksa Novakivsky, Western Ukraine’s most influential artist and pedagogue. In 1928, Moroz traveled to Paris, where he remained until 1930. While there, he became acquainted with the pictorial structure of Paul Cézanne and the coloristic freedom of Henri Matisse. He also studied in the prominent Académie Julian. In 1931, he and Novakivsky traveled together to Italy.
Moroz’s artistic odyssey was affected profoundly by World War II. He was forced to leave his native land, going first to Germany and then, in 1949, to the United States, where he and his family made their permanent home.
During his years in the United States, he traveled widely, documenting many locales. Among the most vibrant works in the exhibition are some of his small paintings from the 1970s of Kufstein in Austria and such views of Italy as Florence, Venice, and Forum Romanum.
Moroz’s art, which was always expressive, would in America become expressionist, as the emotive aspect of his response to nature became more pronounced.
Moroz’s deep commitment to the landscape tradition establishes the major continuities in his art. The impressive body of work in the exhibition, spanning nearly sixty years, underscores compelling links between early and later imagery. Seascapes from the coast of Maine from the 1960s and 1970s recall his early depictions of the Black Sea coast. His heroic treatment of the Colorado Mountains have their counterpoints in his depictions of the Alps from the 1940s. Most importantly, his varied, brilliant renderings of the Catskill Mountains establish a deep bond with the early landscapes of the Carpathian Mountains in Ukraine.
Moroz’s art will always be most closely linked to his Ukrainian heritage. Yet it is important to appreciate the international scope of his vision. During his extensive career in America, for example, he painted many of the country’s most beautiful natural sites — from the coast of Maine to the Grand Canyon. These works represent his most mature expression. As such, he belongs among the preeminent American landscapists of the second half of the 20th century.
