Hard Working Conditions in the Old Donbas

Borys Yosypovych Vaks was a Soviet Ukrainian painter and graphic artist. He was an Honored Artist of the Ukrainian SSR (1973) and member of the Union of Artists of the USSR (1950). Born on May 12, 1912 in Zhytomyr, he studied at the Kyiv Art School from 1929-1933. In 1933-1936, he worked under the guidance of L. Kramarenko on monumental panels and frescoes for the Palace of Pioneers in Stalino (now Donetsk). From 1945-1948, Vaks studied at the Kharkiv Art Institute in S. Prokhorov's workshop. He participated in exhibitions starting in 1954. The painter's works have a pronounced lyrical and philosophical feel. The most famous of them are "Front Spring (Cranes)" (1957), "On the Virgin Land" (1961), the triptych "Bread" (1967), "Silence" (1971), and "War" (1984). A recognized master of still life and landscape, Vaks' works are in museums in Ukraine and Russia, as well as in private collections in the USA, Japan, Germany, and France. He lived and worked in Kharkiv and died in 1989.