Serhii Vasylkivskyi was a master of lyrical-epic landscapes, genre scenes, and works on themes of Ukrainian history.

The artist was born in 1854, in Izium, Kharkiv Governorate. In 1861, Serhii’s parents moved to Kharkiv, where he first developed his artistic skills at the Kharkiv Gymnasium. After five years at the gymnasium, at his father’s insistence, Vasylkivskyi enrolled in the Kharkiv Veterinary School. However, in 1873, financial hardship forced him to leave, and he worked for a time as an office clerk.

From 1876 to 1885, he studied in the landscape class at the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts under Mykhailo Clodt and Volodymyr Orlovsky. Having completed his studies by 1883, young Serhii frequently traveled around Ukraine, creating a series of renowned landscapes. In March 1886, he went abroad, living in France and traveling through England, Spain, Italy, South Africa, and Germany, where he studied art museum collections. Vasylkivskyi worked extensively, exhibiting his works at the Paris Salon.

His time abroad solidified his resolve to focus on landscape art in Ukrainian painting. Vasylkivskyi traveled on foot through the Kharkiv and Poltava regions and journeyed down the Dnipro River to Zaporizhzhia. He painted Ukrainian primeval forests, meadows, village houses, and streets in different seasons, often incorporating simple genre motifs that harmoniously blended with the landscape.

Serhii Vasylkivskyi is often called a poet of Ukrainian painting for the exceptional lyricism in his landscapes and historical works. 

Highly valuing creative independence, Vasylkivskyi avoided membership in any single association and presented his works at exhibitions by various societies in St. Petersburg, Kharkiv, and Kyiv. In 1900, he organized his first solo exhibition in Kharkiv, showcasing 120 works.

Vasylkivskyi passed away in 1917, in Kharkiv. He left a valuable legacy for Ukrainian art — nearly 3,000 works, of which he donated 1,500 to the Kharkiv Art Museum in his final days. Unfortunately, many of these pieces were lost or taken from Ukraine during World War II, and today, around 500 of his works are preserved in museums and private collections.