Early Spring

Ivan Stepanovych Marchuk was a Ukrainian painter, graphic artist, and sculptor. Born on May 12, 1936 in the village of Moskalivka, Lanovets district, Ternopil region, he graduated from the decorative painting department of the Lviv School of Applied Arts (1956; teachers: K. Zvirynskyi, O. Shatkivskyi) and the Faculty of Ceramics of the Lviv Institute of Decorative and Applied Arts (1965; teachers: D. Dovboshynskyi, R. Selskyi). He was a member of the National Union of Artists of Ukraine (1988) and a participant of art exhibitions starting in the 1970s. Marchuk's personal exhibitions were repeatedly held in Kyiv, Moscow, Sydney, Toronto, New York, and many cities in Europe. Marchuk's original artistic method did not fit into the framework of socialist realism, so the official authorities and the creative unions controlled by them did not recognize his work. He emigrated to Australia (1989) and lived in Canada (1990) and the USA (1990-2001), periodically visiting Ukraine before finally returning in 2001. His main fields were easel painting and graphics, ceramic plastic, and monumental art. Marchuk developed the original technique of "plottanism" (first used in 1972 in a landscape). He was a People's Artist of Ukraine (2002) and an honorary member of the International Academy of Contemporary Art in Rome (2006). Marchuk's main works include the painting "I Am Punished, I Suffer, But I Do Not Repent... (T. Shevchenko)" (1964; 1st prize of the student works competition); 6 canvases for the "Ukraine" hotel in Moscow (1974); "Shadows on the Snow" (1974), "The Strings Were Ringing in Spring" (1976), "Flowers of My Childhood" (1980), "Artist R. Selsky” (1981), “Night in the Steppe” (1983), “On the Road (Self-Portrait)”, “Peace on the Planet”, “Golden Lace”, the triptych “Monologue” (all - 1986), “Winter Road” (1987), “And the Wind Passed Through His Body”, “Chornobyl Madonna” (both - 1989), “Awakening” (1992), “Illumination”, “Traces of Antiquity”, “Eve”, “Blue Symphony”, “And Secrets Will Be Revealed”, “So Time Flows” (all - 1993), “Unsolved Secrets”, “Torn Melody”, “Alone in Space”, “Lyrical Sounds”, “Tell Me the Truth” (all - 1994), “Sounds of the Organ”, “Lost Flowers”, “And He Heard an Ancient Voice” (all - 1995), "Light in Her Hands" (1996), "The Sun Won at the Edge of the Forest", "And the Eyes of the Forms of His Creation" (both - 2000), "And the Moon Opened Its Eyes", "Christmas Night" (both - 2002), "Spring is on the Way", "The Sun Rises over the Dnieper" (both - 2004), "Morning Frosts", "The Magic of a Moonlit Night", "Such a Warm Spring Sun" (all - 2005), "Centuries Touched It", "Born, Grew, Gone", "Birds Flew Into the Woods" (all - 2007), "The Sun Wins on the Strings of the Forest" (2010), "Behind a Mighty Oak an Old House Stands", "Somewhere Beyond the Forest the Sun Rises" (both - 2012), "The Mounds Are Warming in the Sun", "A Look Against the Sun" (both - 2013), and "The Sun Rolled Down the Ravine" (2015).