Vasyl Khmeluk

Vasyl Khmeluk (Berezivka 1903 – Paris 1986)

Vasyl Khmeluk was a Ukrainian painter and draftsman of the School of Paris. He was born in Ukraine in the village of Berezivka; his father worked in finance and encouraged him to develop his artistic talents. He studied from 1921 to 1923 at the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow under the direction of Wladyslaw Jarocki. From 1923 to 1928, Vasyl Khmeluk studied philology at Charles University in Prague. At that time, he published three collections of poems in Ukrainian. In 1928, Vasyl Khmeluk settled in Montmartre; he devoted himself entirely to painting and made copies at the Louvre. He was closely connected to Ukrainian artists living in Paris and sent his works to exhibitions in Lviv. In 1935 the painter met Ambroise Vollard who recommended him to the dealers Wollman and Zborowsky.
The artist's work was encouraged by Parisian critics: "There is an authentic violence in Khmeluk. One feels here that a man is engaged and this abundant paint, these rigorous light effects, this rapid, concise, and sometimes tragic vision express a beautiful lyrical temperament" excerpt from Le Méridien, November 2, 1945.

A painter of landscapes, Vasyl Khmeluk was drawn to the Midi, Brittany, the banks of the Loire, Paris with its Seine quays and Montmartre. Still lifes and bouquets of flowers also held his full attention. Young women, children and clowns remained his favorite models in the art of portraiture.
Vasyl Khmeluk was a colorist; the colors are deep, powerful, modulating the intensity of the composition. The brushwork is nervous, violent, expressive; the influence of Maurice de Vlaminck and Soutine is noticeable. The impasto is generous, his portraits are expressive, his landscapes lively and his still lifes vivid.

Vasyl Khmeluk participated in the Salon d'Automne of 1928.
Many exhibitions were devoted to him in Paris: Galerie Jeune Europe (1931), Galerie Marcel (1933), Galerie Wolman (1935), Galerie Defrene (1936), Galerie A. Poyet (1937, 1939), Galerie Saint-Germain (1942), Galerie Durand-Ruel (1943, 1945, 1947, 1951, 1955, 1956, 1960, 1967), Galerie Chabanon (1945), Galerie Allard (1946), Galerie Jourdain (1950); in New York: Galerie Durand-Ruel (1943, 1946, 1948), Galerie Hutton (1962); in London: Galerie Storran (1938); in Geneva: Galerie Benador (1949); in Bern: Galerie Marbach (1949); in Munich: Galerie Schöninger and in Cologne: Galerie Abels (1969). His works are held in the collections of the Museum of Lviv, Kiev, the Musée d'Art Moderne de Paris, the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lucerne, and Zurich.