Полтавщина

Petro Illich Bilan was a Ukrainian painter, a member of the Union of Soviet Artists of Ukraine since 1958, and Honored Artist of the Ukrainian SSR since 1985. Born on July 21, 1921 in the village of NovoMykolaivka (now Zaporizhia region), he graduated from the Odesa Art School (1940, D. Krainyev's workshop), the Leningrad Industrial Art School (1949, teacher O. Kanter), and the Kyiv Art Institute (1955, S. Grigoriev's workshop). He participated in World War II. Working in the genre of easel painting, Bilan created portraits, landscapes, and thematic paintings. From 1955, he participated in republic, all-Union, and foreign exhibitions. His works are characterized by lyricism and deep psychologism. His main works are "To the Son" (1955), "Interrogation" (1968), "Sowing" (1971), and "River of Dreams" (1995). He died on September 22, 1996 in Kyiv. Bilan's paintings are kept in many museums of Ukraine.