Mill in Mezhyrichchia

Mykhailo Derehus was a classic figure of Ukrainian art who succeeded in uniting academic mastery with a deep national romanticism.

The artwork of Mykhailo Derehus is unique in his equal virtuosity across painting, graphic art, and illustration.

The artist was born in 1904 in the village of Vesele in Kharkiv Oblast into a peasant family. His father was a medical assistant, and the family moved frequently.

From an early age, Mykhailo developed a passion for drawing and read everything he could find, particularly illustrated books, and dreamed of becoming an illustrator. He received a sound home education and went on to complete his secondary schooling at the gymnasium in Bohodukhiv.

After the gymnasium, he studied at pedagogical courses (1918) and at the Kharkiv Institute of Public Education (1922). From 1923, he worked as a drawing teacher at a seven-year school. Between 1923 and 1930, Derehus studied at the Kharkiv Art Institute in the creative studios of the artist-educators Mykhailo Sharonov, Semen Prokhorov, Oleksii Kokel, and Mykola Burachek.

In the 1920s, he produced illustrations for journals in Kharkiv and Kyiv. From 1930, he worked on political and propaganda posters.

From 1932, Mykhailo Derehus’s paintings were featured in more than 120 art exhibitions — all-Ukrainian, all-union, and international.

Between 1932 and 1941, he worked at the Kharkiv Art Institute, initially as an assistant and from 1935 as an associate professor. Concurrently, from 1934, he taught at the Kharkiv Art College.

During the Soviet-German War, he was evacuated from the city.

From 1944 to 1946, he served as Director of the State Museum of Ukrainian Art. From 1947 to 1949, he led the studio of historical and battle painting at the Kharkiv Art Institute.

From 1956 to 1962, he served as Chairman of the Board of the Union of Soviet Artists of Ukraine. From 1962, he led the graphics studio of the USSR Academy of Arts in Kyiv. From 1982 to 1987, he served as Secretary of the Board of the Union of Artists of Ukraine.

He lived in Kyiv, where he died in 1997.

He worked across easel painting, easel and book graphics, and decorative and applied art, painting interiors, creating thematic panels, and illustrating books for Ukrainian publishers.

Mykhailo Derehus’s original paintings include Rest (1932), Collective Farm Festival (1935), Return with the Order (1936–1937), Landscape (1940), Ruined Kyiv (1943), The Birth of a Song (1965), Famine. The Year '33 (1988), and many others.

Notable works in easel graphics include Kateryna (1936–1938), Wind (1940), Old Willows (1967), Water Nymph (1977), and many others.

UFDA digitised two works by the artist from the collection of the Regional Communal Museum of Local History in Borshchiv: Kateryna (1937) and Mill in Mezhyrichchia (1968).

Derehus's works are distinguished by a particular poetic quality and a heroisation of imagery. Even in intimate graphic sheets or illustrations one senses an epic breadth of vision.

His style is thoroughly permeated by Ukrainian mentality, folklore, and history. The artist's landscapes are often associated with folk dumas and songs — spare in composition yet extraordinarily emotive. Derehus had a gift for conveying the spirit of the Ukrainian steppe, sky, and history.

As a graphic artist, Derehus is considered one of the foremost masters of his time. He experimented with and attained virtuoso command of numerous techniques, including etching, aquatint, monotype, and lithography.

In his paintings, Derehus reveals himself as a subtle colourist. His palette is rich but never garish. He frequently employed complex gradations of light and shadow to create an atmosphere of mystery, unease, or, conversely, quiet poetic joy.

The artist's style is one of syncretism — blending realism, romantic heroism, and deep lyricism.