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Drawings of Three Heads (Based on Works by Hans Holbein the Younger)

Yulian Zaiats

Basic information

ID: Ф-З-Арх-ЛГМ-5/14
Author: Yulian Zaiats
Name: Drawings of Three Heads (Based on Works by Hans Holbein the Younger)
Date of creation: 23.05. 1911–25.05.1911
Country: German Empire (?)
Technique: drawing
Material: paper pencil
Dimensions (height x width, cm): 29.4 x 21.4

Additionally

Type: graphic art
Genre: portraiture
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 obverse side of the drawing depicts three shoulder-length male portraits executed in an academic technique using a soft graphite pencil. The composition is based on graphic motifs from the creative heritage of Hans Holbein Jr, an artist known for his precise depiction of individual features and deep psychological images. The composition is devoid of rigid symmetry: the portraits are placed at intervals, allowing the viewer to view each image as an autonomous, complete study. These drawings are an example of an exercise in the study of historical typologies and peculiarities of portraiture in the practice of Northern Renaissance artists. Among those depicted is Archbishop William Wareham of Canterbury, whose image stands out from the rest due to the detailed study of his face, the outline of his headdress, and expressively modelled wrinkles. The portrait impresses with its restrained dignity, inner concentration, and subtle conveyance of the person's psycho-emotional state. The other two images, also based on the works of Hans Holbein the Younger, are presented in a three-quarter turn and almost in profile, with the master's characteristic attention to the accurate reproduction of facial features. The use of lighting is also noteworthy: the artist employs subtle work with the line, allowing him to clearly model the shape. The peculiarity of this composition is that the artist not only repeats the iconographic structure of the originals but also tries to study and feel the rhythm of the line, the accents of the stroke, and the figurative specificity of the portrait tradition. This gives the work not only an educational but also an interpretive character, revealing a complex dialogue between the twentieth-century academic school and the Renaissance heritage. On the back of the sheet are six full-length studies of nude female models. The figures are presented in various positions, both in static poses and with slight body movements, with an emphasis on natural posture and accurate representation of body proportions. Some of them are presented in a frontal position, others – almost in profile or at a slight angle, which allows you to study the volume and balance of the figure from different angles. The studies are distinguished by their attention to plastic anatomy with the precision inherent in the academic tradition. Despite the nudity of the models, the compositions remain restrained, focusing on formal tasks such as the study of balance, symmetry, and proportion.

Inscriptions

On the front, from top to bottom, left to right: "30/12 10"; "30/12 10"; "4/1 11"; inscription "p. Holbein"; "30/12 10"; signature of Yulian Zaiats. On the reverse side, from top to bottom, left to right: Yulian Zaiats' signature "8/6 19". Yulian Zaiats' signature; "7/6 19". Yulian Zaiats' signature; "8/6 19". Yulian Zaiats' signature; "7/6 19". Yulian Zaiats' signature; "7/6 19". Yulian Zaiats' signature; "8/6 19".

Portrayed person