Two Drawings of Knights on Horses

Yulian Zaiats

Basic information

ID: Ф-З-Арх-ЛГМ-7/8
Author: Yulian Zaiats
Name: Two Drawings of Knights on Horses
Date of creation: 26.04.1962–01.05.1962
Country: the Ukrainian SSR
Technique: watercolour
Material: paper pencil watercolour
Dimensions (height x width, cm): 20.4 x 28.5

Additionally

Type: painting
Genre: symbolic art
Plot: Portrait
Provenance: Received from Nina Zaiats

Information about author

Author: Yulian Zaiats
Artist's lifetime: 1880–1971
Country: Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Second Polish Republic, the USSR
Biography: Yulian Zaiats (May 30, 1880, Bohutyn, Austro-Hungarian Empire, now Pomoriany district, Lviv region – September 2, 1971, Lviv, Ukrainian SSR) was a Ukrainian artist, lawyer, scholar, bibliographer, and cultural figure. According to some sources, he was the son of a Greek Catholic priest.

He initially studied at a gymnasium in Lviv (graduating with honours in 1899). The artist then enrolled in the law faculty of Lviv University, but for political reasons transferred to the Jagiellonian University in Krakow (1901). At the same time, he enrolled in the Kraków Academy of Fine Arts, where he studied under Leon Jan Wyczółkowski (11 April 1852 – 27 December 1936). According to researcher Oleh Kupchynskyi, he was actively involved in research work. In 1902, he submitted his scientific work, "Usus fructus nominis", to the historical and philosophical section of the Shevchenko Scientific Society, which was published in the "Journal of Law and Economics." It should be noted that, based on the results of this work, Julian Zayats defended his doctoral dissertation in 1907. He then worked as a lawyer in the State Treasury Prosecutor's Office (Lviv). In addition, in 1909 and 1912, he improved his legal qualifications in Berlin, where he prepared a scientific work entitled "Jus iurandum in litem." According to researcher Oleh Kupchynskyi, he attended lectures at the Berlin Academy of Arts by the renowned German painter and graphic artist of Jewish origin, Max Liebermann (July 20, 1847–February 8, 1935). However, during this period, the artist did not teach regularly at this institution and was only appointed to the Senate of the Berlin Academy of Arts in 1912.

It should be noted that after World War I, Yulian Zaiats worked as an employee of a private law firm in Komarne (now the centre of the Komarne municipal community in the Lviv region), and later as a lawyer in Lviv. Yulian Zaiats also taught Roman law at the Ukrainian Secret University and was a permanent legal advisor to Metropolitan Andrei Sheptytskyi. He joined the Legal Commission of the Shevchenko Scientific Society and became a member of one of the key parties in the region at that time, the Ukrainian National Democratic Union. During the Second Polish Republic (1918–1939), Yulian Zaiats authored appeals to the League of Nations and the Vatican regarding the violent measures against Ukrainians within the framework of military-police terror, the so-called “Polish pacification”, initiated by the leader of this state entity, Jozef Pilsudski. At the same time, in the 1920s, he was invited to work at the Lviv branch of the Financial Prosecutor's Office of the Polish State Treasury. Later, before the annexation of the western Ukrainian lands to the Ukrainian SSR, he was a judge of the Supreme Administrative Tribunal of Poland in Warsaw (1939). From 1941, he was president of the Court of Appeal (Lviv).

After the end of the Nazi occupation, he was arrested as a person who could have been involved in the crimes of the occupiers. At the request of the intelligentsia (according to documents from the archives of the Security Service of Ukraine, first published in the works of scholars Mykola Kobyletskyi and Lesia Trepak), in particular, Metropolitan Andrei Sheptytskyi, and the head of the National Museum, Ilarion Svientsitskyi, the criminal case against Yulian Zaiats was closed. In 1945, he began teaching at Lviv State University, and from 1946, he worked as a bibliographer at the Scientific Library of the V. Stefanyk Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR. In 1951, the artist failed to pass the certification due to a lack of professional qualifications, but with the permission of the Certification Commission, he held the position of librarian from 1953 until his retirement.

During his time as a bibliographer, Yulian Zaiats produced a number of bibliographic works: “Materials for the Bibliography of M. Voznyak” (1946), “Bibliography of the works of M. P. Drahomanov” (1947, co-authored), “Bibliography of the history of the city of Lviv” (parts 1–2, 1948) – however, none of them were ever published. He was into collecting art and old books, and did some painting and drawing. Participated in art exhibitions in Lviv (1929–1932, 1934, 1935, 1937, 1943; National Museum and Ukrainian Society of Art Lovers), in Warsaw (Polish Society of Art Lovers in the “Zachęta” Salon), and other cities. Among his well-known works are “Lady in Blue”, “Daughter”, “Self-Portrait”, “Boy”, “Church in Krasne”, “Church in Kryvchytsi”, Flowers”, and “The Kaminka River”, which were highly praised in the press and exhibition catalogues of the time.

Additionally, he possessed a distinctive vocal talent and a powerful tenor voice. According to researcher Oleh Kupchynskyi, he graduated from the Lviv Conservatory (class of Nestor Nyzhankivsky). However, from 1928, Nestor Nyzhankivsky (August 31, 1893–April 10, 1940) taught at the Mykola Lysenko Higher Music Institute in Lviv. Also, according to Oleh Kupchynskyi, Yulian Zaiats performed solo concerts in Lviv, Warsaw, and other cities and participated in annual holiday programs for Shevchenko Days in Galicia. Between 1920 and 1926, he served as the leader of the “Muse” singing society. As for the artist's legacy, thanks to the efforts of Ilarion Svientsitskyi, a significant collection of his works is housed in the Andrei Sheptytskyi National Museum in Lviv, and some works are in the art department of the Lviv Library of the Vasyl Stefanyk National Academy of Sciences. According to researchers Mykola Kobyletskyi and Lesia Trepak, twenty works by Yulian Zaiats were purchased by the State Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow.

An important part of Yulian Zaiats' creative legacy is a series of graphic works currently stored in the Archive of Artists and Cultural Figures of the Borys Voznytskyi Lviv National Art Gallery, which provide valuable insights into the specifics of the educational process as well as the priorities in more conservative artistic circles focused on developing a realistic visual language through careful study of nature and the creative work of artists of past eras, especially those who practised the faithful reproduction of people and the world around them.

Object description

The sheet features two figures of knights-bogatyrs, executed in watercolour using a limited, balanced palette with separate colour-saturated sections of red, yellow, and brown. The work belongs to the period of the author's mature experience (1960s), when visual studies of classical models were combined with elements of interpretation and compositional variation. The first figure is a fairly accurate copy of the left character from Viktor Vasnietsov's famous work "Bogatyrs" (1898), Dobrynia Mykytych. The knight is depicted on horseback, in a characteristic pose, firmly seated, with a straight posture and a sideways glance. With his right hand, the man holds the hilt of his sword, and with his left, a bright shield. Characteristic elements of armour are reproduced, including a long chain mail hood, a cone-shaped helmet, and a red shield on the left hand. The watercolour technique allows the artist to convey the volume and overall atmosphere of the image without excessive detail, while maintaining the monumental calmness and balance of the figure. The colour scheme is balanced, which enhances the impression of epic restraint. Next to him is another figure of a bogatyr, executed in the same style, but without direct identification with a specific source. Most likely, this is the author's fantasy reconstruction of the image in the spirit of romanticised heroic painting of the second half of the 19th – early 20th centuries. The figure is depicted from the hips up, with powerful shoulders, a flowing cape, a helmet, and a massive fantasy sword, the shape of which goes beyond historical accuracy. Unlike Dobrynia, this figure is less recognisable but no less expressive: his gaze is directed to the side, his face is modelled energetically, with light brushstrokes that convey the features of a strong-willed, focused character. The placement of the figures on the sheet is not accidental: the author deliberately contrasts the canonical image, fixed in visual memory (Dobrynia Mykytych), with an experimental variation of the type as an attempt to reinterpret the heroic image in his own manner. This juxtaposition indicates not just a copying approach, but a desire to enter into the structure of the classical image, to understand its internal rhythm, compositional principles, and psychological load, and then to create a new one based on the same visual and emotional patterns. Thus, this watercolour work can be an example of the research practice of an artist in his mature period, combining a deep knowledge of classical painting, a respectful attitude toward sources, and an appeal to the imagery of the epic tradition.

Inscriptions

In the centre, under the images, there are inscriptions: "After Vasnietsov"; "1/5 1962"; Yulian Zaiats' signature; "From Talashska (?)"; "26/4 1962"; Yulian Zaiats' signature.

Legal regulation

Borys Voznytskyi Lviv National Art Gallery

Two Drawings of Knights on Horses

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