JUNE 28, 1960 — MARCH 2, 2022
61 YEARS, ARTIST, HONORED ARTIST OF UKRAINE
Serhii Pushchenko was a professional painter, culturologist, Honored Artist of Ukraine, member of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine. He was said to be fighting for Ukraine with pen and brush.
Serhii was killed on March 2, 2022 in battle against a Russian subversive squad in Vasylkiv, Kyiv region. Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, he had joined the territorial defense unit of his hometown. On that day, the Russian military targeted the school basement, which served as a shelter for the civilians, mostly children and the elderly. The Russians did not expect to encounter four Ukrainian defenders among the civilians in the basement. With his brothers-in-arms, Serhii engaged in combat. «Our warriors saved the people in the shelter with their own lives», says the painter’s fellow serviceman.
Serhii had already seen the Russian invasion at point-blank range: he was doing his paintings amidst the bloodshed of Euromaidan. Back there, under sniper fire, he had finished many canvases depicting military exploits of the defenders of the 5th separate battalion of the Pravyi Sector Ukrainian Volunteer Corps and the 5th separate battalion of Ukrainian Volunteer Army. «Painter-pal» was the nickname the artist’s brothers-in-arms came up with when he joined the volunteer battalion in the spring of 2015. He spent plenty of time in the war zone so he could see through his unique artistic project in the future, a book-album called «Portraits of volunteers at war». Later, he became a volunteer and an Anti-Terrorist Operation veteran.
The artist had finished over a hundred of paintings while at the front. Among his works, 56 portraits of nature done in oil on canvas, and 54 images done with graphic materials on paper and cardboard. On the flipside there are images of the defenders with their autographs, their wishes and thoughts about life and fighting for Ukraine. In some paintings, along with ordinary paint, the artist used ashes from conflagrations and fires set up beside the barricades in Kyiv city center. The artist was a winner of the Prize named after Bohdan Khmelnytskyi (2018) for best coverage of military issues in works of literature and art. The exhibition toured across many towns and cities of Ukraine, and was always a success: «The eyes, I was struck by their eyes the most... The portraits of our warriors that look right into your soul... The portraits of the heroes that remind us what the fight is about and why we must win» — the visitors shared their impressions.
Serhii was born on June 28, 1960 in the village Volodymyrivka in Dnipro region, resided in Kharkiv. His first career experience came from Dnipro Art College. Later, he graduated from the Lviv-based Ukrainian Publishing Institute named after Ivan Fedorov, majoring in graphic art. Worked as a graphic editor for the Kharkiv publishing house «Prapor», did the books design. He was a member of the Kharkiv region union of the All-Ukrainian Taras Shevchenko society of «Prosvita». Also he was a member of public organizations «Spadshchyna» and «Union of Volunteers» and in the ranks of the Pokrovska Sotnia of the Kharkiv Sloboda Cossack Regiment. Serhii’s works of art can be found in numerous private collections and museums of Ukraine. Serhii has authored over 900 paintings: still life, landscapes, portraits. His main theme had always been the Ukrainian Cossacks-related. He is the author of a series of paintings «The Cossack bloodline will never perish». He often depicted the national heroes, history, nature and lifestyle of Ukraine. Serhii had been collaborating with the Zaitsev V. T. Institute of General and Emergency Surgery of the National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine. He designed the medical books focused on the surgical treatment. Among the published handbooks there were over 1100 exclusive drawings of human anatomy, surgical interventions techniques and various schemes of treatment algorithms.
Serhii is the author of another unique literary and artistic project, Kobzar of the Front. Aside from poems by Shevchenko, the edition contains dozens of photocollages about the Russia-Ukraine war. 46 of Serhii’s artistic works showcase the long-gone and the present tumultuous years from the history of Ukraine, highlighting the will of unbroken nation. For the collages, the artist used images from his own private archive: events of the Revolution of dignity, fighting in Donbas, along with the pictures taken by war correspondents and active servicemen at the front.
Serhii was 61. He had more than 12 awards and accolades for his artwork. Most of his paintings he just presented to museums for free. The artist believed that at all times, there are people who defend their homeland not just with weapons in hand, but with culture as well. «Genuine art can never omit the big issues of the world. Even more so in the times when your Motherland is bleeding in the middle of a heinous war, it is impossible to be an idle bystander», Serhii said.
