Petrykivka painting

Early history It is believed that Petrivka painting originated from mural decorations of village houses. Painted wall decorations were prevalent in many parts of Ukraine, and different regions had their own characteristic styles. It was traditional for the painting to be restored once or twice each year. In addition to murals, household items made of wood and other materials were also decorated, particularly chests (and especially wedding chests). Later, the tradition of "mal'ovky" (мальовки) arose, in which paintings made in advance by a master on paper could be used to decorate house walls without a painter needing to visit them in person. There are also examples of 18th century religious icons from the Dnipro region that have floral ornamentation which could also be considered an ancestor of the modern Petrikivka style. The oldest Ukrainian wall paintings with floral ornaments date from the second half of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century in the Dnipropetrovsk, Sloboda, Podillia, and Uman regions, and they likely have a relationship or common origin with the Petrykivka style. From the time of the Nova Sich in the mid-1700s until the middle of the nineteenth century, these lands were primarily populated by settlers from the Poltava and Sloboda regions, and it is possible that these migrants brought this painting tradition to Petrykivka. Yet another alternative hypothesis is that this painting style came from Podillia via Uman. However, murals with floral ornaments appeared there only much later. Development from 1950 to 1980 An atelier for textile production had existed in Petrykivka since 1929. In 1958, a cooperative workshop was created in that atelier for the production of varnished Petrykivka painted objects. The artists in that workshop included some of Tatiana Pata's most talented students. In 1958, the staff of the workshop included Hanna Isaieva, Yavdokha Kliupa, Maria Shyshats'ka, Nadia Shulyk, Ivan Zavhorodnii, Halyna Prudnikova, Oleksandra Pikush, Vira Tezyk, Nina Turchyn, Hanna Danyleiko, and (beginning in 1959) Zoia Kudish. In 1961, the cooperative was reorganized as the "Friendship" Factory of Petrikivka Painting ("Фабрика петриківського розпису «Дружба»"). Most products of the factory, particularly boxes and dishes, were made of pressed sawdust, which were covered in black paint, decorated, and then varnished. The artistic director of the factory until 1970 was Fedir Panko. From 1970-1988 this position was held by Vasyl' Sokolenko, and then by Anatolii Chernus'kyi, Volodymyr Hlushchenko, and Serhii Dreshpak. Its artistic advisory council included such famous masters as Hanna Samars'ka and Yavdokha Kliupa. By the late Soviet period the factory employed about five hundred people. Petrikivka-decorated plates, boxes, trays, vases, and other souvenirs became calling cards of Ukraine, and were exported to 80 different countries. In 2006 the factory was liquidated in bankruptcy, and in 2011 it was completely destroyed by unknown individuals who dismantled the workshops and presses. The T. Pata Petrykivka Children's Art School ("Петриківська дитяча художня школа ім. Т. Я. Пати") was also created in 1958. Its founding teachers of Petrikivka painting were Fedir Panko and Vasyl' Sokolenko, both students Tatiana Pata. While simultaneously working at the Petrykivka Factory, they taught the art form to the next generation of artists: most of the Petrykivka artists of the second half of the Soviet period were their students. Later, Valentyna Panko and Maria Pikush, both graduates of the School, became instructors there themselves. Pikush became its director in 1995. In 2012, the Ukrainian Ministry of Culture recognized Petrykivka painting as part of the intangible cultural heritage of Ukraine, and in December 2013 it was included in the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO. In January 2013, a "Petrykivka" trademark designed by Liudmyla Horbulia was registered, and was donated for the use of the community of Petrykivka village and its artisans as a symbol of authenticity. On 26 October 2020, Petrykivka painting became a geographical indication in Ukraine, meaning that some stages of its production process are guaranteed to take place in its area of origin, which determines certain qualities of the product. ==Technique and characteristics==

Petrykivka painting is traditionally dominated by plant forms, particularly of flowers. At times, they are depicted as abstracted shapes that do not necessarily correspond to any recognizable, naturally occurring plant species. In other cases, they are based on common garden flowers (e.g. dahlias, asters, tulips, roses), wildflowers (e.g. camomile, cornflower), and other plants (such as vibernum berries, strawberries, and grapes). Acanthus leaves (traditionally referred to as "ferns") and flower buds are also commonly seen. The plant imagery is often combined with birds, and sometimes with images of animals and people, which are often depicted in somewhat fanciful form. Designs also commonly make use of the image of a phoenix or firebird. Historically, Petrykivka painting was done exclusively on white backgrounds (either whitewashed walls or on white paper), but contemporary artists have used backgrounds of a variety of colors, including black, blue, green, and red. Petrykivka painting is unabashedly two-dimensional, with no desire to depict "realistic" perspective. The overall design is built around one or more plant stems, to which are attached to all of the key elements of the composition. These stems or branches typically do not overlap each other, and many elements are depicted as silhouettes. Figures of birds, animals, and people are typically depicted in profile, while flowers are usually shown head-on. Many pictorial elements (such as petals, stems, and berries) are depicted using a single brush stroke. For some elements, such as berries, artists will use their finger to apply the paint, resulting in a characteristic round shape that is light in the center and has a darker "ring" at its edge. Professional Petrykivka artists mostly work without pre-drawn sketches and do not use measuring instruments. Instead, they work out the composition in their mind's eye, and do not begin execution until it has been fully thought through. Materials Pigments were traditionally extracted from herbs, leaves, berries and flowers using specific preparation methods. Red was made from cherry juice, green - from grasses and nightshades, and blue - from snowdrop flowers. Various shades of yellow were obtained from sunflower petals, onion skins, and the bark of apple seedlings. Pigments were thinned using egg yolk or milk, and fixed using cherry sap or sugar from sugar beets. Synthetic dyes appeared much later, and gouache and watercolor were used only in the post-war period. The painting tools themselves also were of natural origin: brushes were made from tree shoots, stems of marsh grasses (especially rushes and cattails), and cat hair. ==Well-known artists in the Petrykivka tradition==

There are no historical records of Petrykivka painting prior to the beginning of the 20th century, and therefore the names of early artists have not been recorded. Largely thanks to the work of Dmytro Yavornytsky, the names of Petrykivka masters of the early 20th century (born in the 1880s and 1890s) were recorded, such as Tatiana Pata, Nadia Bilokin', Yaryna Pylypenko, and Paraska Pavlenko. These artists are the only ones of their generation whose works are known and are preserved in museums with attribution. Valentyna Panko, Viktoria Tymoshenko, Natalia Statyva-Zharko, Olena Yarmoliuk, Petrikivka painting has often been a family craft, and many well-known Petrykivka artists (both historical and contemporary) often have well-known artists in their immediate family. Among the more famous of these "dynasties" are those of Panko, Pikush, Statyva, and Skliar. In some cases, these links are not obvious, as the carriers of the tradition were often women who changed their surname after marriage. It is also complicated by the fact that some relatively unusual surnames happen to be quite common in Petrykivka, and two artists with the same name may in fact not be close relatives. ==Gallery==

File:Blue flowers box.jpg|Decorative box "Blue Flowers" by Natalia Statyva-Zharko File:Petrykivsky rospys skrynka mazky1980.JPG File:Petrykivsky rospys skrynka kalyna1980.JPG File:Petrykivsky rospys skrynka chorna1985.JPG File:Petrykivsky rospys skrynka ptakh 1980.JPG == References ==