In a Rocking Chair

Oleksandr Bohomazov was a Ukrainian graphic artist, painter, educator, and art theorist, a leading figure in both Ukrainian and global avant-garde art movements.

The artist was born in 1880 into a bookkeeper's family in the Kharkiv Governorate. He attended a gymnasium and pursued a degree in agronomy at his father's insistence. Encouraged by his uncle, he would go on plein air painting trips with him. 

Bohomazov initially planned to enroll in the Saint Petersburg Academy of Arts, but in 1902, he decided to attend the Kyiv Art School, where he met Oleksandra Exter and Oleksandr Archipenko. He studied under Oleksandr Murashko and Ivan Seleznyov and also attended private studios in Moscow.

The artist lived and worked in Kyiv. In 1913, he married Kyiv-based artist Wanda Monastyrska, who became his muse throughout his life and artistic career. 

In 1915, he moved to the Caucasus, which turned out to be a disappointment for the artist due to financial difficulties and limited social interactions. However, the experience inspired many of his paintings. 

Starting in 1917, he began teaching. From 1922 to 1930, Bohomazov served as a professor at the Kyiv Art Institute. 

Bohomazov passed away in 1930. Shortly after his death, his name and artistic legacy were erased from the Soviet-era historical narrative. Only during the cultural "thaw" of the mid-1960s, his name and works were rediscovered by a group of art historians.

The artist’s works can be found in museums across Ukraine and around the world. In Ukraine, his pieces are housed in the National Art Museum and the Nykanor Onatskyi Regional Art Museum in Sumy. Internationally, his artworks are held in museums and private collections in cities such as London, New York, Venice, Zurich, Tokyo, San Francisco, and Zagreb.

In June 2025, Bohomazov’s works will be featured in an exhibition at the Muzeum Sztuki in Łódź, dedicated to Ukrainian modernist artists.

In addition, art enthusiasts can explore digitized versions of Bohomazov’s works on the website of the Ukrainian Fund of Digitized Art (UFDA). Notably, UFDA has digitized In a Rocking Chair, Oleksandr Bohomazov’s artwork from the collection of the Nykanor Onatskyi Regional Art Museum in Sumy.

Oleksandr Bohomazov’s artworks are vibrant and dynamic. They were inspired by both the rhythm of urban life and the emotional depth of his subjects, reflecting an innovative approach to modern art.

Among Bohomazov's original paintings are "Abstract Landscape" (1915), "Sawyers" (1925), "Cityscape. Kyiv" (1913), "Tuning Saws" (1927), "Self-Portrait" (1915), "Sіnnyi Market. Kyiv" (1914), "Portrait of the Daughter" (1928), "Bouquet of Flowers" (1915), "Lumberjack" (1913), "Electrician" (1915), "Memories of the Caucasus" (1916), "Abstract Composition" (1913), "Locomotive" (1915), "Still Life with Flowers" (1914), "Portrait of Wife" (1913), "Girl with a Hoop" (1913), "Landscape with Red Houses" (1911), "A Bridge" (1908), "Still Life with Fruits and Vegetables" (1905), "Head" (1914), "Toys" (1914), and others.

One of the most famous of Oleksandr Bohomazov's artworks is "In a Rocking Chair" (1907). This impressionistic painting portrays a girl immersed in a serene moment, her face illuminated by warm sunlight as she sways in rhythm with nature. 

Utilizing pointillist techniques, a delicate color palette, and a play of light and air, Bohomazov masterfully captures the harmony between emotional depth, motion, and musicality, reflecting the influence of French Neo-Impressionism. This artwork of Bohomazov marks the early stages of his artistic journey and a new era in Ukrainian visual art. 

The artist was inspired by the vibrant life of the city and often depicted it in his works. One such piece is Tram (1914), created using oil on canvas. This painting is a vivid example of Ukrainian Cubo-Futurism, combining movement, rhythm, and spatial distortion. The tram is the central element of the composition. Surrounding it are bustling figures of pedestrians, buildings, electric wires, and trees. Everything is rendered in sharp, angular forms and bright, expressive colors.

The painting Electrician (1915) is an example of the fusion of industrial themes with a modernist visual language. In the foreground stands an electric pole, rising dramatically upward and creating a sense of perspectival distortion. Climbing it is an electrician, seen from below in a nearly silhouetted form. His figure merges with the verticality of the pole, intensifying the feeling of tension and height.

One of the artist’s most iconic works is Portrait of the Daughter (1928). The painting depicts the young face of a girl with her gaze lowered. Her face is gently shaped by light, while her hair flows in curved lines that create a sense of movement and rhythm.

Oleksandr Bohomazov is also known for his self-portraits, which he created throughout his life. One of his most well-known self-portraits was painted around 1915. The artist depicts himself with bold, angular brushstrokes and a highly fragmented, almost kaleidoscopic approach to form. His face is broken down into planes of contrasting colors – reds, blues, purples, and yellows – that suggest light and shadow but also dynamic movement. He wears round glasses, which reflect light and add another geometric element to the composition. A dark suit jacket and a blue tie are visible, rendered with similar energetic brushwork.

The background is particularly expressive, with sharp, radiating lines and blocks of intense yellow, dark blue, and red. These lines seem to emanate from the figure, creating a sense of energy and motion.

Oleksandr Bohomazov was a pioneering Ukrainian artist and theorist who significantly shaped national Cubo-Futurism, blending analytical form with dynamic energy and rhythm. His vibrant works, influenced by European avant-garde movements, captured urban life, emotion, and motion.

Oleksandr Bohomazov's art style evolved from Impressionism to become one of the defining elements of Ukrainian Cubo-Futurism. Influenced by the works of European cubists and futurists, he sought to break down forms analytically and achieve a synthesis of artistic expression. Bohomazov focused on dynamic movement, striving to capture rhythm and energy in his paintings, often using minimal color palettes and geometric shapes. 

Bohomazov's art distinctively emphasized the use of lines to convey emotion and atmosphere, making his works both visually striking and intellectually stimulating. 

The art of Bohomazov is inextricably linked with the city, first and foremost with early 20th-century Kyiv: loud, bustling, teeming with crowds of newcomers, carts, and the first trams darting in all directions. It was the city itself—with its rhythms, sounds, and colors—that gave the artist the vital impulse to express the dynamism of forms. 

Oleksandr Bohomazov entered the history of Ukrainian art as both an outstanding painter and a talented educator, teaching for eight years at the Institute of Plastic Arts, which in 1924 was renamed the Kyiv Art Institute.

Particular attention should be given to Bohomazov’s theoretical work. In 1913–1914, he wrote a theoretical treatise titled Painting and Elements, in which he explored: the interaction and roles of the Object, the Artist, the Painting, and the Viewer in an artwork; and the interaction of the structural elements of a painting in the viewer's perception - points, lines, basic geometric figures, colors, rhythms, and more.

The artist believed that the fundamental unit of a composition is the point - a kind of primary element which, through development, becomes a line; the line then becomes a plane and eventually a form. Ultimately, all elements are united by rhythm, which Bohomazov considered the most crucial component of any work of art. He diligently adhered to these theoretical principles in both his paintings and graphic works.

Many of the ideas in Bohomazov’s manuscript anticipated the theoretical achievements of Kazimir Malevich and Wassily Kandinsky. It can be stated that Bohomazov made a significant contribution to the formation of a new ontological approach to form in 20th-century art, when form came to be understood and affirmed as a self-sufficient entity.

Oleksandr Bohomazov’s art for sale is available at auctions and through art dealers worldwide. In particular, collectors and art enthusiasts may come across a wide selection of his drawings and oil paintings, which showcase the artist's distinctive style and contribution to the Ukrainian avant-garde movement. These works vary in subject matter and period, offering insight into different stages of his artistic development.

Additionally, art enthusiasts and collectors have the opportunity to purchase high-quality digitized versions of Oleksandr Bohomazov’s works through the UFDA website. These digital editions allow admirers of her legacy to experience and preserve her masterpieces in a modern format, while also supporting the promotion of Ukrainian cultural heritage. One of his most iconic works, "In a Rocking Chair," is currently available. To buy Oleksandr Bohomazov’s painting, simply click the "Request to Purchase" button on the work’s page.