Heorhii Yakutovych

Heorhii Yakutovych was a Ukrainian graphic artist and illustrator, and a master of linocut and etching.

The artist created illustrations for numerous works, including Mykhailo Kotsiubynskyi’s book Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors, Ivan Franko’s Zakhar Berkut, and others. The only lifetime exhibition of Heorhii Yakutovych's graphics took place in 2000, the final year of the artist's life.

The artist was born in 1930 into a military family in Kyiv. The family moved frequently from place to place, so they returned to Ukraine only after World War II.

In Kyiv, Heorhii entered an art school, which defined his future creative path.

n 1948, Yakutovych began his studies at the Faculty of Graphics of the Kyiv State Art Institute in the workshop of Ilarion Pleshchynskyi. The artist Vasyl Kasiyan was also his teacher.

Під час навчання знайомиться зі своєю майбутнєю дружиною — художницею Олександрою Павловською. Двоє їхніх синів теж стали митцями.

During his studies, he met his future wife, the artist Oleksandra Pavlovska. Their two sons also became artists.

Starting in 1961, he taught at the Kyiv Art Institute. However, his teaching career there was short-lived; after a year and a half, Yakutovych left the institute in protest against the dismissal of Hryhoriy Havrylenko, one of his closest friends. He later resumed his teaching activities starting in 1993.

The artist passed away in 2000.

The artist worked primarily on book graphics, occasionally engaged in easel graphics, and served as a production designer for films.

Throughout his life, he created illustrations for many books, including:

Yakutovych planned the design for the book Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors for over ten years. His fascination with the theme was driven, in part, by the artist's deep interest in the Carpathians and Hutsul culture. Before illustrating the novella, Yakutovych served as the production designer for Sergei Parajanov’s film Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors.

He also developed illustrations for Maksym Rylskyi, Sonnets (1969); Dmytro Pavlychko, The Golden-Horned Deer (1970); Ivan Franko, Zakhar Berkut (1972); The Tale of Igor's Campaign (1977); Vasyl Stefanyk, Maple Leaves (1978); The Primary Chronicle (or The Tale of Bygone Years) (1981).

Among Heorhii Yakutovych’s original works, he created standalone engravings on historical themes, such as Ivan Vyshenskyi and Oleh Horyslavych, as well as cycles based on Ukrainian folk tales, ancient Ukrainian music, and postcards inspired by Ukrainian folk songs.

Starting from the late 1960s, he began the series People of the Village of Dzembronya, which he continued to develop until the end of his creative career.

UFDA digitized the English Channel Plateau (1989) by the artist from the collection of the Regional Communal Museum of Local History in Borshchiv.

The catalyst for the artist's first artistic concepts was an exhibition of Mexican graphics in Moscow (1957), where Diego Rivera was also exhibiting. At the same time, Heorhii admired the work of the Boychukists, a movement that was highly discouraged in the Soviet Union. Volodymyr Favorsky was also always a major authority for Yakutovych.

Yakutovych advanced toward mastering folkloric sources of art more rapidly than any of his peers. Exceptionally self-critical, uncompromising, and demanding in creative matters, he repeatedly spoke about how difficult it was to transition from academic thinking to folk art.

Through recognizing the affinity between the painterly originality of the muralist Diego Rivera and the creative principles of Boychuk, Yakutovych discovered not only the core concept of the Boychukists, but the very essence of Boychuk’s original source—a naive and simultaneously wise folkloric visual artistry.

From the 1990s onward, the artwork of Heorhii Yakutovych turned toward more abstract forms.