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Ескіз декорації. «Спартак»

Yevhen Lysyk

theater artist, outstanding Ukrainian artist-reformer of opera scenography

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His work became a unique phenomenon in the world culture of the second half of the twentieth century. From 1961 to 1991, Lysyk worked at the Ivan Franko Lviv State Academic Opera and Ballet Theater (now the Solomiya Krushelnytska Lviv National Academic Opera and Ballet Theater).

 

For three decades, he worked despite the pressure of the ideological system, preserving his creative freedom. One of the key components of his art was large-scale paintings that captivated viewers with their grandeur and emotional power. His artistic legacy consists of about a hundred scenic solutions for opera and ballet productions, as well as numerous sketches, paintings, models and drawings.

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Artworks

Biography

1930-1937

 1938-1949

1961-1970

1970s

1980s

1950-1960

1990 

1991 

Exhibitions:

Yevhen Lysyk (1930-1991) was born on September 21 in the village of Shnyriv (now Lviv region, Brody district). He grew up in a peasant family and lost his mother at an early age. He was raised by his father and grandfather. They influenced the formation of the future artist's worldview. It was thanks to his grandfather that Lysyk developed a deep love for nature and horses, which he often depicted in his works. At the same time, his father brought him to the theater. Mykyta Romanovych took part in amateur performances organized at the local People's House, which functioned thanks to the active support of the Prosvita Society. Yevhen's third important mentor was his uncle, Ivan Romanovych, his father's brother. Ivan was an educated man who studied in Brody and became the mayor of Shnyrov. He actively worked with the local cultural centers-a club, a reading room, and a theater that had recently opened in the village. His uncle often took his nephew to theater performances.

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“It was not just a village theater-the actors were hanging in the air, there was a theater hatch...,” recalled Oksana Zinchenko, Lysyk's wife. “On other evenings, people gathered in houses where they read Shevchenko, Stefanyk, and other works loudly.”

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In 1937, Yevhen Lysyk started studying at school.

During the artist's school years, the Second World War began. The village was occupied by the Soviet army. Shnyriv was a frontline village, and the family was relocated several times.  Ivan's uncle and his family were deported to Siberia. Due to these events, staying in his native village became extremely dangerous. The father decided to move to Lviv, hoping to give his son the opportunity to get an education.

 

To enter the institute, Yevhen needed a specialty, so he chose the profession of alfreinik, a master of wall paintings. From 1947 to 1949, Lysyk studied at the Lviv School of Alphabet Painting.

After graduating from college, Lysyk worked in a repair crew. Having not received payment after a large order at the party's regional committee (now the Lviv Regional Council), Yevhen joined the army due to financial difficulties. He was sent to serve in the Far East. During his service in the army, Lysyk was engaged in the design of scenery for an amateur theater. Since the theater troupe was based in a village club with a library, the artist took advantage of this opportunity and re-read the works of world classics.

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After his demobilization in 1953, Lysyk worked at the Lvivsilmash plant. They manufactured machines and devices for pest control in agriculture. Due to allergies, he had to quit his job. Nevertheless, Lysyk managed to get a job in the set design department of the Ivan Franko Lviv State Opera and Ballet Theater, where the chief artist at the time was the prominent set designer Fedir Nirod.

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In 1955, Lysyk entered the Ivan Fedorov Lviv Polygraphic Institute and chose the graphics department. However, a year later, this department was closed, and he continued his studies at the Department of Monumental Painting at the Lviv State Institute of Applied and Decorative Arts. Many of the teachers followed the traditions of the itinerant artists, but there were also European artists among the teachers, such as Roman Selskyi and Ivan Skobalo, who significantly influenced the formation of the future artist.

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During his studies, the young artist actively sought his way in art. He was fascinated by the work of Michelangelo, especially the interaction between stone and the plasticity of the human body. He was also interested in the works of Picasso and Mexican monumentalists, in particular Siqueiros.

 

Lysyk's experiments with new plastic forms caused misunderstanding on the part of the institute's management. In 1960, he was expelled, accused of formalism. He made an attempt to enter the Moscow State Academic Art Institute named after V. Surikov. In Moscow, Lysyk was offered to continue his studies from the second year, which forced the leadership of the Lviv Institute to reconsider its decision and he was reinstated.

In 1961, Yevhen Lysyk defended his thesis, and a year later he presented his first scenography for a performance at the Lviv Opera House, which consisted of three ballets: “Bolero” by Ravel, ‘Glory to the Cosmonauts’ by Biryukov, and ‘The Poem of the Negro’ by Gershwin.

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The real fame came to the artist after staging the ballet Spartacus by Aram Khachaturian in 1965. This production became a landmark in the artist's work. The scenery not only acquired a philosophical meaning, but became full participants in the dance and music performance. In total, Yevhen Lysyk recreated Ancient Rome four times on the stages of Lviv, Minsk, and Donetsk as part of the Spartacus ballet productions.

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In 1967, Lysyk became the chief artist of the Lviv Opera House.

 

During the 1960s, the artist created scenographies for a large number of performances: the ballet trilogy “Dawn Lights”, created to the music of V. Kyreiko, L. Dychko and M. Skoryk (1967), “The Legend of Love” by A. Melikov (1967), “Romeo and Juliet” by S. Prokofiev (1968), “The Queen of Spades” by P. Tchaikovsky (1969), “The Fireplace Master” by V. Hubarenko (1969).

In the seventies, a new stage of the artist's work came, which turned out to be extremely fruitful. This period was marked by his active collaboration with theatres not only in Ukraine but also abroad. The artist realised several productions abroad, including the ballets ‘The Legend of Love’ (Yugoslavia, Turkey) and ‘Carmen Suite’ (Poland). Among the iconic scenic works at the Lviv National Opera are The Creation of the World by by A. Petrov (1972) and Esmeralda by C. Pouni (1970).

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In 1978, Lysyk's set design for the folk opera When the Fern Blooms caused concern among Kyiv officials. Formally, it was explained by the fact that the three tree trunks in the centre of the stage resembled a trident composition. In reality, however, the work was striking in its epic and monumental representation of Ukrainian identity. Lysyk categorically refused to destroy the idea. Therefore, the entire scenography was destroyed, and the Lviv National Opera was closed for repairs the same year. The artist found himself in a situation where he was unable to work on scenographies for major performances, although his troupe continued to work in the premises of the M. Zankovetska State Academic Drama Theatre.

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Later, Lysyk accepted an offer to work at the State Academic Bolshoi Opera and Ballet Theatre of Belarus. In Minsk, he created productions of such performances as Spartacus by Khachaturian, The Nutcracker by Tchaikovsky, Giordano Bruno by Cortes, Till Ullenspiegel by Glebov, and The Creation of the World by by A. Petrov.

At this time, the first scientific studies about the artist were also published. One of the first monographs was the work by Ihor Dychenko ‘Yevhen Lysyk’, which analysed the peculiarities of his work as a scenographer.

In 1980, the artist returned to Lviv after receiving the news of his father's death and the completion of the five-year renovation of the Opera House. The first performance after a long break was the ballet Medea by R. Gabichvadze, created in collaboration with the Belarusian choreographer S. Drechin.​

 

In the 1980s, the artist worked on productions of the opera War and Peace, the ballet Romeo and Juliet by Sergei Prokofiev, as well as the classical ballets Swan Lake and The Nutcracker by Tchaikovsky. After the reconstruction of the theatre, the scenery for the ballets The Creation of the World by A. Petrov by A. Petrov and Esmeralda by C. Pouni.

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In addition, Lysyk taught at the newly created Faculty of Monumental Painting at the Lviv State Institute of Applied and Decorative Arts. He also worked on productions in musical theatres in Turkey, Poland, and Czechoslovakia. In 1987, he was the production designer for the film Danylo, Prince of Galicia (directed by Y. Lupiy, Odesa Feature Film Studio).

As a member of a delegation of theatre artists, the artist visited the United States, where he gave his own lectures on scenography. On 27 July, Lviv hosted Yevhen Lysyk's latest premiere - the opera Othello by by G. Verdi.

On 4 May, Yevhen Lysyk died in Lviv. He was buried on field 67 of the Lychakiv Cemetery.  

Awards:
Since the 1970s, Lysyk has received numerous awards. He was awarded the Taras Shevchenko State Prize of the Ukrainian SSR for the scenography of the opera ‘The Golden Hoop’ by B. Liatoshynskyi (1971). In 1975, Lysyk was awarded the title of People's Artist of the Ukrainian SSR.

As a Ukrainian scenographer, Lysyk presented his works at the Prague Quadrennial twice. In 1971, he took part in the forum as part of the Ukrainian section, along with artists such as Danylo Lider, Fedir Nirod, and David Borovskyi, and presented scenography for Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet (1968) and Kireiko's The Witch based on Taras Shevchenko's poem (1968) at the Lviv Opera and Ballet Theatre.

 

In 1975, Lysyk again took part in the Prague Quadrennial, presenting the design of the performance ‘Till Ullenspiegel’ by Yevhen Hlebov (Lviv Opera and Ballet Theatre named after Ivan Franko).

 

Starting in 1992, students at Lviv Polytechnic created a series of experimental projects called Lysyk's House, an exhibition space for preserving and exhibiting the artist's artistic heritage. In 2015, the authors of the Ukrainian pavilion at the Prague Quadrennial were Lviv Polytechnic professor V. Proskuryakov and his graduate students. They presented the space of the Ukrainian pavilion as a ‘stage’ for the theatre of kinetic projections of Yevhen Lysyk's works: projections and sketches of performances, models, curtains, pallets, etc.

 

Personal exhibitions of the artist took place after his death in Lviv (1996, 2000).

 

  • 2025 - exhibition ‘Lysyk’ at the Centre for Intellectual Art ‘Mercury’ (Lviv, 10 A. Mickiewicz Sq.)

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  • 2024 - audiovisual project ‘Yevhen Lysyk. Scenography for the Lviv Opera’ at the Museum of Modernism in Lviv

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  • 2022 - exhibition ‘Drama. Yevhen Lysyk’ at Ya Gallery (Lviv) 

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