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The Ethnology Notebooks. 2026. № 1 (187), 66—91

UDK 730(=161.2)(430)”19″(092)

DOI https://doi.org/10.15407/

The date the article was first submitted to the publication 23.01.2026

The date the article was accepted for publication after review 26.01.2026

The date of publication (publication)

HRYHORIJ KRUK (1911—1988): CONTEXTS AND HORIZONS OF CREATIVE THINKING (in memory of Borys Voznytsky)

YATSIV Roman

  • ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1509-5367
  • PhD, professor at the Artwood department
  • of the Lviv National Academy of Arts,
  • 38, V. Kubiyovycha str., 79011, Lviv, Ukraine,
  • Contacts: e-mail: jaciv@ukr.net

Abstract. The article is devoted to a little-known aspect of the creative biography, namely the author’s artistic journalism, of Hryhorij (Gregor) Kruk (1911—1988) — an outstanding Ukrainian sculptor, graphic artist, teacher, and art critic. In addition to a rich and significant creative heritage in terms of content and formal ideas, the artist left behind a number of valuable newspaper publications on cultural and artistic topics in terms of content and perspective. A significant part of them was published in the official press organ of the revolutionary Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists, the weekly «Schlach Peremohy / The Wayto Victory», in the 1950s and 1960s. Today, they are of significant scientific interest both in relation to the biography of the outstanding artist and in relation to his reception of various phenomena of art and social life of the corresponding historical time. G. Kruk’s articles are filled with valuable information about the socio-cultural and psychological context of the author’s life in the relevant period, including everyday circumstances and the general background of events in post-war Europe. The study is supplemented by the reprint of the most significant texts that were published in the magazine during 1954—1966.

The object of the study is the creative, artistic, analytical, and journalistic heritage of Hryhorij Kruk.

The subject is his views on the cultural and artistic artifacts of the past, the cultural life of the Ukrainian diaspora in Europe, critical reactions to the manifestations of modernist and postmodernist art, etc.

The methodological basis of the study is a creative-biographical, scientifically reconstructive, and cultural approach to the qualification of the creative temperament of Hryhorij Kruk.

Keywords: Hryhorij (Gregor) Kruk, Ukrainian diaspora, fine arts, sculpture, graphics, art journalism, modernism, cultural memory, museums, cultural contexts.

REFERENCES

  • Fedoruk, O. (Ed.). (1995). Hryhoriy Kruk and European Plastic Arts of the Mid-20th Century: Proceedings of the International Scientific Conference. Ivano-Frankivsk, December 3—5, 1992. Returned Names. Kyiv [in Ukrainian].
  • Kruk, G. (1983). My path to carving. Collection in honor of Prof. Dr. Volodymyr Yanev. Ukrainian Free University: scientific collection (Vol. X, pp. 530—535). Munich: UVU [in Ukrainian].
  • Kruk, G., & Yatsiv, R.M. (2012). My path to carving. Ideas, meanings, interpretations of fine art: Ukrainian theoretical thought of the 20th century: anthology (Part 2, pp. 741—752).Lviv National Academy of Arts; Institute of Ethnology of the NAS of Ukraine [in Ukrainian].
  • Hordynsky, S. (1947). Kruk. Pavlos. Munhin. Three Ukrainian Carvers. Munich: Ukrainian Union of Fine Artists [in Ukrainian].
  • (1958). 5. Ukrainian in Munich. I-band. Dr. Gregor Prokoptschuk. Munich: Verlag Ukraine Munchen [in Deutsch].
  • (1960). Ukrainian artists in Germany. By Dr. Gregor Prokoptschuk. Munich [in Deutsch].
  • Buchhold, M. (1952). Sculptor Gregor Kruk. Ukraine in the Past and Present.2, 33—39 [in Deutsch].
  • (1964). Gregor Kruk, sculpture. With a foreword by J. Cassou; introduction by I. Bauer; introduction by W. Popowycz. Munich [in Deutsch].
  • (1975). Gregor Kruk. Volume 9, 1, 2. Ukrainian Free University.Munich [in Deutsch].
  • (1980). Gregor Kruk. Sculptures. Drawings. Introduction by Dr. Isa Bauer. Munich [in Deutsch].
  • Popovych, V. (1986). Ukrainian Themes in the Works of Hryhor Kruk. Ukrainian Art Digest, 26, 25—32 [in Ukrainian].
  • Popovych, V. (1990). Hryhoriy Kruk (Bratyshiv, October 30, 1911 — Munich, December 5, 1988). Suиasnist. Munich, 6, 25—38.
  • Darewych, D. (1987). Hryhoriy Kruk — singer of peasant fate. Suиasnist, 7/8, 59—65 [in Ukrainian].
  • Darewych, D. (1987). On the occasion of the exhibition of sculptures by Grigoriy Kruk in England. Liberation Path, 8/9, 1047—1049 [in Ukrainian].
  • Ivantsev, D.-L. (1992). «God-gifted creator of beauty»: a memoir about an old friend of the sculptor G. Kruk. Novy Chas. Ivano-Frankivsk [in Ukrainian].
  • Polek, V. (1992, August 29). Galician Columbus: Germany. Sculptor Hryhoriy Kruk. Prykarpatska pravda. Ivano-Frankivsk [in Ukrainian].
  • Yatsiv, R. (1993, march). Hryhir Kruk: Projection on Time, Regimes and Freedoms. Prosvita, 12 [in Ukrainian].
  • Stepovyk, D. (1994). Graphics by Hryhoriy Kruk. Fine Arts, 1, 34—35.
  • Dzyuba, I.M., Zhukovsky, A.I., & Zheleznyak, M.G. (2014). Kruk Hryhoriy Yakovych. V. Popovych, Ya.O. Kravchenko. Encyclopedia of Modern Ukraine. NAS of Ukraine; NTSh. Kyiv: Institute of Encyclopedic Research of NAS of Ukraine. Retrieved from: https://esu.com.ua/article-2208 [in Ukrainian].
  • Kozak, N. (2013). Kruk Hryhir. Ukrainian Fine Arts: Names, Biographies, Works (XI—XXI Centuries) (Pp. 464—465). Kharkiv: Fact [in Ukrainian].
  • Skip, V. (2024). Creating and Living the Vision of Ukraine. Sculptor Hryhoriy Kruk. Munich: Ukrainische Freie Universitдt [in Ukrainian].
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