Jacques Hnizdovsky

Jacques Hnizdovsky (1915 – 1985) is a world-famous Ukrainian graphic artist. He worked in easel painting, sculpture and ceramics, but he gained the greatest fame as a graphic artist. He worked in wood engraving, linocut and etching techniques and created about 375 prints. His works got recognition in the art centres of Great Britain, West Germany, Czechoslovakia, Japan, countries of Africa and the Middle East. The artist's works are stored in the Library of Congress, the Boston Museum, the Philadelphia Museum, the University of Delaware, the University of Washington, the Butler Institute, the Woodward Foundation, the collection of Nelson Rockefeller in the USA, in museums in Japan, as well as in numerous private collections around the world. Two of his paintings – "Winter Landscape" and "Sunflower" – decorated the office of US President John Kennedy in the White House.

"Blue Peacock" reflects the forced migration to the USA. After the move, Yakov Hnizdovskyi felt very confused; he could not adapt for a long time. He sought salvation in work; every day, he went outdoors to the zoo and the botanical garden not far from his New York apartment. Plants and animals evoked compassion in the artist. In fact, he identifies them with himself - a lonely emigrant lost in the frantic urbanized rhythm of another country. A characteristic feature of Yakov Hnizdovsky's engravings is the combination of detailed realism with stylization. The depicted object has all the characteristic recognizable features, and at the same time, being abstracted from the specific environment, acquires decorative features and becomes a symbol. The work "Blue Peacock" is presented in the Abe Tahir "Jacques Hnizdovsky. Woodcuts and Etchings" catalogue, published in the USA. Wood engraving and etching» of 1987.