Illustration for a Fairy Tale

Edvard Kozak

Basic information

ID: Г-V-2176
Author: Edvard Kozak
Name: Illustration for a Fairy Tale
Technique: drawing
Material: paper Indian ink pen
Dimensions (height x width, cm): 11.3 x 10

Additionally

Type: graphic art
Genre: illustration
Provenance: Purchased from D. Semchyshyn, 1988

Information about author

Author: Edvard Kozak
Artist's lifetime: 1902–1992
Country: Ukraine, the USA
Biography: Edvard Kozak (pseudonyms and cryptonyms – Eko, Hryts Zozulia, Kosyi, Avenir Liushnia, Maik Chichka, Mamai, Pik, E.K., Ko, Ko-Ko; 21.01.1902–22.09.1992) – cartoonist, graphic artist, painter, humourist, publisher, editor. Honorary member of the Ukrainian Journalists Association of America. Born in the village of Hirne in the Stryi region into a large peasant family. Member of the Association of Independent Ukrainian Artists (1932–39), the Union of Ukrainian Visual Artists (1941–44), and the Ukrainian Union of Visual Artists (since 1945). He studied at the Stryi Gymnasium, art schools in Vienna (1917) and Lublin, and O. Novakivskyi Art School in Lviv (1927–30). He was a member of the Plast group named in honour of Yaroslav Osmomysl, with which he joined the Ukrainian Sich Riflemen on November 1, 1918, and later served in the Ukrainian Galician Army. During the Ukrainian-Polish War of 1918–1919, fought in an artillery brigade, in the battery of Sotnyk Seleshko. He was a defendant in the Ukrainian Military Organisation trial (Lviv, 1922) and was imprisoned in Brygidki prison. Served in the Polish Army (1923–24). Worked in Lviv as an illustrator, editor of the magazines "Zyz" (1923–33) and "Komar" (1933–39); illustrator for I. Tykor's publishing concern (1933–39); the magazine "Dzvinochok" (1932–39), he came up with a witty storyline about "little Romets" looking at adult life; the book series "Ukrainian Library", "Library for Youth", and "The Great History of Ukraine"; illustrated the children's magazine "Svit Dytyny", edited by Mykhailo Taranok, designed magazine covers, and created oil sketches and paintings. The artist painted churches in the Lviv region (1929–30). In Kraków, he worked for the magazines "Young Friends" and "The Road" (both 1940–44) and was a cartoonist for the newspaper "Krakauer Zeitung" (1940–41). Was the leader of the Ukrainian art circle "Zarevo" (Kraków, 1940s). He illustrated the book "Lys Mykyta" by I. Franko (Kraków; Lviv, 1944). In 1929, he married Mariia Bortnyk (1905–89). From 1939, he lived with his family in Kraków, and from 1944 in Germany, where in 1947–48 E. Kozak was a leader of the Union of Ukrainian Visual Artists in refugee camps in Munich, taught at the Visual Arts Studios in Karlsfelde and Berchtesgaden (1945), and edited the magazine "Lys Mykyta". Collaborated with the small theatre Veselyi Lviv (1942–44). Kozak's political cartoons (particularly those of Joseph Stalin) were reprinted in periodicals in many European countries. From 1949, the artist lived in the United States, where he continued to publish "Lys Mykyta" (1954–90) almost single-handedly. He worked in church art, illustrated fairy tales for television, particularly on WWJ-TV Channel 4 (1951–54), and was an artist for Jam Handy Film Studio (1952–57) in Detroit. In 1957, he received first prize from the National Educational Association (USA) at a cartoon competition in Detroit (Michigan, USA). He is the author of a series of paintings in various techniques (oil, gouache, tempera, watercolours, graphics) depicting folk, Cossack, and rifleman life ("Village", "Based on Rifleman Songs", "On the 50th Anniversary of the USS"), caricatures ("Ukrainians in America"), caricatures and cartoons of cultural and public-political figures (D. Dontsov, P. Kovzhun, I. Kedryn, Y. Malaniuk, S. Hordynskyi, I. Sonevytskyi, and others). As a caricaturist, Kozak was constantly concerned with the themes of disunity among Ukrainian parties, Ukrainian-Polish relations, and Stalinist repression ("Stalin's Illness", 1929; "Guest from Soviet Ukraine", 1929; "The Kharkiv Trial in Reverse", 1930), the situation in Ukraine, and the communist "paradise" in the USSR. The artist participated in dozens of solo and group exhibitions (in particular with his sons Yurii and Yarema) in Vienna, Lviv, Kraków, Munich, Copenhagen, Detroit, Hunter, Toronto, New York, etc. He is the author of memoirs and two volumes of humorous stories. Kozak's most significant contribution to Ukrainian culture was the creation of a modern humour magazine, which shaped Ukrainian public opinion for many decades. In his graphic and pictorial works on the themes of the Zaporozhian Sich, folk songs, and legends, he demonstrated rich imagination, ingenuity, compositional skill, and a sense of humour. The main themes of Kozak's work were the Ukrainian village, history, Lviv, politics, Ukrainian emigration, and the Hutsul region. The artist worked in oil, tempera, gouache, watercolour, and acrylic. His work is characterised by a profound understanding of Ukraine, optimism, dynamism, and a distinctive originality of subject matter. His simple drawings for children contained a serious authorial model of moral, ethical, and patriotic education. The artist transformed some themes into comics, rebuses, and poems. In 1990, Kozak visited Lviv, where his works and those of his two sons were exhibited. Edvard Kozak died in Warren, Michigan, USA, on September 22, 1992, and was buried in the local cemetery.

Object description

A square composition with an image of a woman in the centre, holding a light-coloured cat by the ear in her upraised right hand and a large spoon in her left hand. The woman is dressed in a blouse, skirt, apron, and a headscarf. The artist emphasises the emotions of the characters – the cat's mouth is open in fear, and the woman's in anger. The artist humorously depicts the woman's long nose.

Inscriptions

On the left edge, the author's signature: "EK"; below, in pencil: "9 cm".

Legal regulation

Borys Voznytskyi Lviv National Art Gallery

Illustration for a Fairy Tale

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