T. H. Shevchenko and Iordan

Vasyl Illich Kasiian was a Ukrainian Soviet artist, People's Artist of the USSR, professor of the Kyiv Art Institute, and Hero of Socialist Labor. Born on December 20, 1895 (January 1, 1896) in the village of Mykulyntsi (at that time Austria-Hungary, now Ivano-Frankivsk region, Ukraine), he studied at the Prague Academy of Fine Arts (student of Max Schwabinsky), which he graduated in 1926. His Prague period brought him European recognition and approval in professional art. In 1923, he accepted Soviet citizenship. In 1927, Kasiian returned to Ukraine and began his work as a professor at the Kyiv Art Institute. In 1930, he moved to Kharkiv and worked as the head of the department of the Ukrainian Printing Institute. In 1944, he returned to Kyiv and continued to work as a professor, the head of the department of the Kyiv Art Institute. Kasiian became the founder of an entire art school of Ukrainian graphics. He was a scholar, art critic, and theorist of Ukrainian and world art. During his creative life, he created about 10 thousand works, including engravings, etchings, illustrations for works by literary classics. His main works include "Spring in a Concentration Camp" (1920), "Perekop" (1927), "Self-Portrait" (1931), "Artem" (1936), "V. Stefanyk" (1971), and many others. He died on June 24, 1976 in Kyiv. Kasiyan's works are kept in the National Art Museum of Ukraine and other museums of Ukraine.