The Caucasus

Yakiv Ivanovych Nykodymov was a Ukrainian painter, teacher, and member of the Ukrainian Union of Artists starting in 1938. Born on December 19, 1908 in Kyiv, he was raised in an orphanage. From 1928 to 1932, he studied at the Kyiv Art Institute under Karpo Trokhymenko, Fotii Krasytskyi, Volodymyr Denysov, and Fedir Krychevskyi. During World War II, he was involved in camouflage work to mask important objects. He received a state award: the medal “For Valiant Labor during the Great Patriotic War of 1941 to 1945”. Starting in 1949, Nykodymov lived in Zhdaniv (now Mariupol). In the 1950s and 1970s, he headed the art studio at the Palace of Culture of the Azovstal plant. His students included Yevhen Skorlupin, Volodymyr Mysky-Oglu, Oleksandr Bondarenko, Oleg Kovalev, Tetyana Lysenko, and others. He worked in the field of easel and watercolor painting. Among his works are “Donetsk Steppe” (1944), “Icebreaker” (1955), “Caucasus” (1950 to 1970s), “Poetry Lovers” (1964), and others. Starting in 1944, he participated in all-Ukrainian exhibitions. He died in Zhdaniv on December 24, 1982. Some of his works were kept in the Luhansk Art and Mariupol Local History Museums.