Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

TARAS SHEVCHENKO

Date Range From

1930

Date Range To

1940

Materials

LINEN, THREAD, WOOD, GLASS

No. Pieces

1

Height

55.8

Length

43.2

Description

FRAMED CROSS-WORK PICTURE OF TARAS SHEVCHENKO DONE ON LINEN CLOTH. HE IS SHOWN FROM THE CHEST UP WITH A BOOK IN FRONT. "KO6 3AP" BOUND ON EDGE. ROSES BORDERING THE LOWER HALF IN SEMI-CIRCLE. HAS CARDBOARD BACKING.

Subjects

ART

Historical Association

DECORATIVE ARTS

History

MRS. MARY MILAN OF COLEMAN, ALBERTA DID THE ACTUAL WORK. IT WAS GIVEN TO MR. PULOSKI IN A WILL AND HE DECIDED TO DONATE IT TO THE MUSEUM. *UPDATE* IN 2014 COLLECTIONS ASSISTANT JANE EDMUNDSON CONDUCTED A SURVEY OF ART OBJECTS. THE FOLLOWING BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION ON THE NEEDLEWORKER, MARY MILAN, WAS FOUND IN HER LETHBRIDGE HERALD OBITUARY. MARY MILAN NEE PULOSKY WAS BORN IN THE UKRAINE IN FEBRUARY 1904 AND CAME TO CANADA IN 1923. SHE MARRIED STEVE MILAN IN WINNIPEG AND TOGETHER THEY MOVED TO COLEMAN, ALBERTA IN 1928, WHERE THEY LIVED UNTIL HER DEATH ON JANUARY 24, 1980. SEE PERMANENT FILE FOR HARDCOPY OF MARY MILAN'S OBITUARY. THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION ABOUT THE PICTURE'S SUBJECT, TARAS SHEVCHENKO, WAS FOUND ON THE WEBSITE FOR THE TARAS SHEVCHENKO MUSEUM IN TORONTO. TARAS HRYHOROVICH SHEVCHENKO, THE GREAT UKRAINIAN POET, ARTIST AND THINKER, WAS BORN ON MARCH 9, 1814, IN THE VILLAGE OF MORYNTSI IN CENTRAL UKRAINE, THEN PART OF THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. HIS PARENTS, H. SHEVCHENKO AND K. SHEVCHENKO, WERE SERFS. TARAS'S FATHER WAS LITERATE, AND HE SENT HIS SON TO BE EDUCATED AS AN APPRENTICE TO A DEACON. IN 1823, TARAS'S MOTHER DIED, AND HIS FATHER FOLLOWED HER TWO YEARS LATER. TARAS, NOW AN ORPHAN, SERVED AS A HOUSEBOY AND WAS IN TRAINING AS A SERVANT. A TALENT FOR DRAWING SHOWED ITSELF IN THE BOY QUITE EARLY. WHEN HE WAS 14 YEARS OLD, HE BECAME A DOMESTIC SERVANT TO P. ENGELHARDT AND IN 1829 TARAS TRAVELLED WITH HIM TO VILNIUS, LITHUANIA. THERE HE STUDIED PAINTING UNDER AN EXPERIENCED CRAFTSMAN. THE POLISH REBELLION FOR NATIONAL LIBERATION FROM RUSSIA BEGAN IN NOVEMBER, 1830, AND ENGELHARDT LEFT FOR THE RUSSIAN CAPITAL, ST. PETERSBURG. SHEVCHENKO STAYED WITH THE LORD'S SERVANTS IN VILNIUS AND WAS WITNESS TO THE REVOLUTIONARY EVENTS. SHEVCHENKO WENT TO ST. PETERSBURG AT THE BEGINNING OF 1831. IN 1832, THE LORD "CONTRACTED" HIM TO THE MASTER PAINTER V. SHYRYAYEV, WITH WHOM TARAS EXPERIENCED A HARD SCHOOL OF PROFESSIONAL TRAINING. NOTED WRITERS AND ARTISTS WHO BEFRIENDED SHEVCHENKO BOUGHT HIM OUT OF SERFDOM IN 1838 BY RAISING 2,500 RUBLES. LATER THAT YEAR HE WAS ACCEPTED INTO THE ACADEMY OF ARTS, AND RECEIVED NUMEROUS AWARDS FOR HIS PAINTINGS. IN 1840 HIS FIRST BOOK OF POETRY, THE KOBZAR, WAS PUBLISHED. HE CONTINUED TO PUBLISH POEMS AND WRITE STAGE PLAYS. MUCH OF HIS SUBJECT MATTER DEALT WITH THE SOCIAL AND NATIONAL OPPRESSION OF THE UKRAINIAN PEOPLE BY RUSSIA. SHEVCHENKO’S WORK WAS OFTEN CENSORED. IN THE SPRING OF 1846, THE POET LIVED FOR SOME TIME IN KIEV, WHERE HE MET THE MEMBERS OF THE KYRYLO-METHODIUS SOCIETY. THE VIEWS OF THE POET HAD A GREAT INFLUENCE ON THE PROGRAM OF THIS SECRET SOCIETY AND ON THE PHILOSOPHICAL OUTLOOK OF MANY OF HIS CONTEMPORARIES. IN 1847, ARRESTS BEGAN OF THE MEMBERS OF THE KYRYLO-METHODIUS SOCIETY AND SHEVCHENKO WAS ARRESTED ON APRIL 5, ON A FERRY CROSSING THE DNIPRO RIVER NEAR KIEV. THE NEXT DAY, THE POET WAS SENT TO ST. PETERSBURG. HE ARRIVED THERE ON APRIL 17, 1847, AND WAS IMPRISONED. HE REPEATEDLY VIOLATED THE RUSSIAN TSAR’S BAN ON PRISONERS WRITING ABOUT THEIR EXPERIENCES. IT WAS NOT UNTIL 1857 THAT SHEVCHENKO FINALLY RETURNED FROM EXILE, THANKS TO THE EFFORTS OF FRIENDS. HE CONTINUED TO WRITE AND ADVOCATE FOR THE UKRAINIAN PEOPLE UNTIL HIS DEATH IN ST. PETERSBURG ON MARCH 10, 1861. HE IS BURIED NEXT TO THE DNIPRO RIVER ON A SITE THAT HAS BECOME A SHRINE CALLED TARAS HILL.

Catalogue Number

P19800162000

Acquisition Date

1980-08

Collection

Museum

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