Late Autumn

Ernest Rudolfovych Kontratovych was a Ukrainian artist, painter, and teacher. He was a member of the Society of Fine Arts of Subcarpathian Rus (from 1934), a member of the National Union of Artists of Ukraine (from 1946), and a People's Artist of the Ukrainian SSR (from 1991). Born on May 17, 1912 in the village of Kalna Roztoka (now the territory of Slovakia), Kontratovych graduated from the Uzhhorod Teachers' Seminary (1928-1932) and received a specialty as a public school teacher. He attended the private studio "Public School of Painting", where his teachers were Joseph Bokshai and Adalbert Erdeli. Starting in 1933, he participated in exhibitions of the Society of Fine Arts. Kontratovych was one of the organizers and the first chairman of the Transcarpathian regional organization of the National Union of Artists of Ukraine (starting in 1946). He was one of the founders of the Transcarpathian School of Painting. He worked in the directions of realism and expressionism. The prevailing genres in his work are landscape and genre compositions. In 1974 and 2001, his personal exhibitions were held in Kyiv. Among his works are "Consecration of Water" (1938), "Sad Melodies" (1940), the series "Transcarpathian Madonnas" (1939-1972), "View from the Meadow", "Late Autumn", and others. He died on December 23, 2009 in Uzhhorod. His works are kept in many museums of Ukraine and in private collections in Ukraine and abroad.