The Expanses of the Kyiv Region

Ivan Ananiiovych Kovtoniuk was a Ukrainian painter, Honored Artist of Ukraine (1985), and People's Artist of Ukraine (2009). Born on August 3, 1935 in the village of Smoldyriv, Baranivskyi district (now Zhytomyr region), he studied from 1958 to 1963 at the M. Grekov Rostov-on-Don Art School. In 1963-1968, he studied at the Kyiv State Art Institute (in the workshop of Professor V.G. Puzyrkov). Starting in 1968, he worked at the Department of Painting and Composition of this institution, and became a professor in 2005. Kovtoniuk worked in the field of easel painting and was an artist of a wide creative range. Among his numerous works are "Peaceful Spring" (1980), "Mother" (portrait, 1980), "Grandfather's Land" (1984), "Conversation" (1991), a series of landscapes of Ukraine and Kyiv (1990-2015), and others. For many years, the artist was a constant participant in the most prestigious all-Ukrainian and international exhibitions. Kovtoniuk died on August 5, 2017 in Kyiv. His works are kept in museums of Ukraine and in private collections of many countries.