YURIY VOVK

Yuriy Vovk

Graphic artist, portraitist, book illustrator. Came from the family of Khvedir Vovk, renowned ethnographer and anthropologist. Attended the Kyiv Art School and the Ukrainian Academy of Arts (1917-1919). Studied privately with Prof. Schilling in Rome (1920-1921). Moved to Prague in 1922 and studied at the Ukrainian Studio of Plastic Arts with S. Mako (1924-1927). Member of the “Scythians” – an international arts association headed by S. Mako in Prague (1929-1932). From 1932-1949, collaborated with Prague publishers, especially “oleimacek” and “J.R. Vilimek”. From 1953-1960, lived in various cities of Slovakia, working as an illustrator for Czechoslovak publishers of artistic literature and the Ukrainian-language journal Druzhno vperedi [Forward United!]. Participated in the cultural-artistic life of the Ukrainian Galician Army at base camp in Josefov, Czechoslovakia (1923). Worked in pastel, charcoal, and colored pencil. Exhibited in group shows in Lviv, Prague, Paris, and the United States. Created the publishing logo of M. Taranko in Lviv (1925). Designed books for the Lviv publishers “Svit dytyny” [Children’s World] and “Chajka” [Seagull]. Illustrated the poetry collections of V. Khmeliuk; the prose of I. Franko, A. Kashchenko, and B. Lepkyj; and the works of A. Zhyvotko, among others. His works are housed in the Museum of Ukrainian Culture in Svidnfk (Slovakia), in the Pamatnik Narodniho Pisemnictvi [Museum of Czech Literature], the Slovanska knihovna [Slavonic Library] of the National Library of the Czech Republic in Prague, and in private collections.