The exhibition is dedicated to the bright memory of Mykola Stratilat, Honored Artist of Ukraine, who passed away on March 9, 2023, at the age of 81.

Stratilat was a versatile artist who created hundreds of works in various techniques. He worked mainly in graphics (easel engraving, book illustration, ex libris), yet his watercolor paintings — also presented at the exhibition — are equally masterful.

The formation of Stratilat as an artist with his own idiostyle began in Kyiv, where he arrived from his native village Makiivka (Chernihiv region) in 1959 to study. His love for Kyiv later found expression in the engraving series “Song about Kyiv”, as well as in his desire to reproduce historical monuments in his works, some of which had to be reconstructed (series “Destroyed Shrines of Kyiv”).

For every admirer of Ukrainian poetry, the artist’s name is known primarily as an illustrator of poetic editions published throughout the 1970s–1990s. Yet the central theme of his creative work was Shevchenko. Even the events of his life were mystically intertwined with Shevchenko’s dates (May 22 — his birthday, March 9 — his death). Throughout his artistic journey, Mykola Stratilat depicted picturesque corners of Ukraine connected with the national genius (Kyiv region, Cherkasy region, Chernihiv region). For the 200th anniversary of Taras Shevchenko’s birth, the “Dukh i Litera” publishing house released Stratilat’s album of engravings “Quiet world, dear land, my Ukraine”, which summarized the engraver’s many years of work.

Who does not know the small, cozy workshop of Mykola Stratilat at 34-v Andriivskyi Descent? This is the oldest building on that street, where in 1843 Taras Shevchenko stayed with Polish writer and critic Michał Grabowski. The artist loved his studio dearly, enjoyed welcoming friends there, and told everyone the story of the house. On Kyiv Days he would bring his printing press out into the street, showing everyone how an engraving was created, allowing even children to make their own print, which he then gifted to them. Patriots and friends of the artist gathered in this workshop — people who brought closer the restoration of Ukrainian statehood.

Mykola Stratilat knew how to see what was invisible to others — “Angel over the Lake”, the souls of trees and flowers, spiritualized nature, and his earthly mission. In his painting “Earthly Gravity — Self-Portrait” he appears as a crucifix from a burning tree, holding on his shoulders a nest from which snow-white swans soar into the sky… Eternal and bright memory to him!