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The Ethnology Notebooks. 2026. № 2 (188), 472—481

UDK 7.05:745/749(477)”1930/1966″

DOI https://doi.org/10.15407/

  • Received: 12.02.2026
  • Accepted: 19.03.2026
  • Published: ??.??.2026

ARTISTS OF FINE ART AND THEIR CREATIVE PRACTICES IN THE FORMATION OF THE MATERIAL CULTURE OF THE ERA 1930—1966

DYACHENKO Alla

  • ORCID ID: htps://orcid.org/0000-0003-4496-5931
  • candidate ped. of Sciences, associate professor, associate professor of the Department 
  • of Industrial Design and Computer Technologies, 
  • dean of the Faculty of Decorative and Applied Arts, 
  • Kyiv State Academy of Decorative and Applied Arts 
  • and Design named after Mykhailo Boychuk, 
  • 32, Mykhaylo Boychuk Str., 01014, Kyiv, Ukraine,
  • Contacts: e-mail: pani.alla0107@gmail.com

 Abstract. The article analyzes the complex dynamics of the development of Ukrainian applied and industrial art from modern and avant-garde art forms, in particular, in creative tandem with folk art culture, to the harsh totalitarian-ideological pressure of the Stalin era and gradual aesthetic renewal during the so-called «thaw». The transformation of decorative art as «industrial art» into an object of political propaganda is highlighted, when the dominance of the socialist realism method unified any creative manifestations in line with the format of representation that was permissible from the point of view of Soviet ideology: glorification of the Soviet way of life, agitation for relevant party guidelines, formation of images of «correct heroes» and glorification of the leader. At that time, one can trace the displacement of the specific plastic language of applied art in favor of permissible plot, naturalism and copying of pictorial canons in accordance with the needs of ideology.

Particular attention is paid to the significance of the founding of the Lviv State Institute of Applied and Decorative Arts in 1946, which became the foundation for the professionalization of the industry and the education of a new generation of artists capable of critical rethinking of traditions. The article reveals the personal contribution of significant figures of Ukrainian art of the period under study. In particular, the technology of creating porcelain flowers by Dmytro Goch at the Baraniv Porcelain Factory is analyzed as an example of the interaction of science, craft and high art. The activities of Vira Klymenko-Zhukova at the Kyiv Experimental Ceramic and Art Factory are studied, who initiated the introduction of Petrykivka painting into the decoration of porcelain products, expanding the boundaries of traditional folk art. The role of Mieczyslaw Pavlovsky in the revival of the Lviv school of blown glass is highlighted, where the use of complex techniques, such as «Venetian thread», allowed to bring glassblowing to the level of author’s artistic plasticity.

It is emphasized that the period of the mid-1950s — the first half of the 1960s was a time of stylistic change. Thanks to the collaboration of artists with designers of forms, Stalinist pomposity was overcome and the foundations of modern Ukrainian design were laid. It is confirmed that it was the individual creative searches and innovation of artists that became decisive factors in preserving national identity and ensuring high aesthetic quality of the subject environment of Ukraine in the conditions of totalitarian unification.

Keywords: avant-garde, «thaw», Vira Klymenko-Zhukova, ironworks, Dmytro Goch, ideology, Mechyslav Pavlovsky, Petrykivka painting, porcelain, socialist realism.

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