Olexander Bogomazov (1880-1930) - a world-renowned Ukrainian avant-garde artist. In the summer of 1911, he visited Finland and created a series of works. Some of them are truly unique as many of the landscapes painted by the artist no longer exist nowadays. 

To raise public awareness, identify Finnish locations and reproduce step by step the journey of the famous artist Ukrainian journalist Nataliya Teramae created the project “Olexander Bogomazov in Finland. One hundred years later”. 

“Bogomazov is one of the important ties that connect Finland and Ukraine. During my research, I met with art experts and historians who helped me identify the places described by Bogomazov in his paintings and letters. Also, our Ukrainian Embassy is already negotiating an artist's exhibition in Finland”,- said Natalia Teramae, author of the project supported by the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation (Український культурний фонд).

Finnish experts were: Eero Laajo, curator of the Imatra Art Museum (Imatran Taidemuseo), Miikka Kurri, curator of the South Karelia Museum (Etelä-Karjalan museo), Jyrki Paaskoski, historian and writer, and Kalle Pakarinen, curator of the Imatran kaupunginmuseo. The collected materials are presented in the manuscript “Olexander Bogomazov in Finland. One hundred years later”.  

Here are the main moments of the artist's journey in Finland and the results of the research carried out within the project.

The 31-year-old artist writes to his bride: “Dina, Dina! How beautiful, if only you knew! I am sitting now by the waves of the "Little Imatra" as if chained. I look and cannot stop admiring! What a wonderful overflows of colors, what a power, what an impetuosity!”. Little Imatra is the Vallinkoski rapids. Now the shape of Vallinkoski area has changed completely, due to rise of water level and dredging completed in 1950's. Bogomazov wrote here his oil painting "Sea Waves", a series of watercolors and one graphic drawing. 

Most likely, he stayed at the Valtionhotelli. The artist has depicted it on two canvases - "Tower" and "Castle in Finland".

"There are many sawmills here [...] Many strange huge wooden posts made of prepared material", – Bogomazov notes the peculiarity of the city. However, he is mostly interested in Saimaa. At least two watercolors were created here: "Finland" - a view of the Pikisaari island, and "Finland. Landscape "- most likely a view of the city from Pikisaari. The picture depicts a railway wagon and a yellow building, reminiscent of a station, which still stands on the shore.

Here Bogomazov probably created his watercolor "Landscape with a house with a red roof." This building is described in a letter from Viipuri: “How beautiful he is, shrouded in the very last rays of the setting sun! The red tone of the whole building is surprisingly soft, calm and at the same time brightly vibrates with the evening sky". 

Here is a description of the graphic drawing "Finland": "In the distance, on a green lawn, pyramidal heaps of hay are lined up in regular rows and bask in the last rays of the sun". It is interesting that the pine forest in Viipuri reminds him of the forest in his native Boyarka, a country town near Kyiv. 

The third work from this city is “Väinämöinen, who plays the kantele”. Bogomazov depicts him from a sculpture in the park. He even mentions this in a letter at the end of his voyage: "There is a huge garden far away, with majestic rocks, among which the old white "Väinämöinen" singing its ancient legends!". 

The most beautiful place in Finland, this is how this ridge was presented to the artist. “There is a long seven versts ridge, narrow, covered with a pine forest. Saimaa loves it, caressing it from both sides, because it is richer and more magnificent here and resembles our forests", - observes the artist. However, he does not understand the general fascination with this place. He lacks knowledge about Runeberg, “The Tales of Ensign Stål” and Topelius. However, there are two graphic works in his collection, reminiscent of the landscapes in Punkaharju: "Lake" and "Finnish landscape. Saimaa making noise”/“Saimaa Lake”.

The artist stops at Olavin kylpylaitos, the first spa in Finland. And immediately draws attention to the hotel building. Gothic elements often attracted Bogomazov at that time. Watercolor "Female figure on the background of the castle. Finland” shows us closer what the hotel looked like before the fire in the 1960s. The neo-Gothic cathedral in the city center inspires him for creating the graphic “Finland. Cathedral".

It also strongly features the artistic Jugend style, which was popular in both Ukraine and Finland. "There are huge rocks here, there is an impregnable round beautiful island, there is an ancient castle," - Bogomazov describes the city. 

Olavinlinna Castle appears in two of his works: watercolors "Landscape with red houses" and graphics "Female silhouette on the background of the castle". Once again, the castle walls emerge on the watercolor "Stormy River. Finland". The image resembles Savonlinna. Yellow walls with towers - Olavinlinna. The building with spiers is a neo-Gothic cathedral. But the city does not have a stormy flow. 

Bogomazov is fascinated by the nature of Finland. Like local artists of that time, he seeks inspiration from it. "I thought there was little color in the north. It turns out that there are so many of them, and in the apparent monotony there are many overflows and a kind of charm”, - he enthusiastically reports from Savonlinna.

It is not known exactly how many works are included in the "Finnish cycle". After his death in 1930, the artist was banned in the Soviet Union. His cubo-futuristic style did not fit into the social realism, the only one allowed in the Union. His works were marked "for destruction". Bogomazov's legacy survived thanks to Dina, his wife Wanda Monastyrska.

The text uses quotations from Bogomazov's letters from the collection of the Central State Archive Museum of Literature and Arts of Ukraine (Центральний державний архів-музей літератури і мистецтва України.), paintings - from the collections of the Національний художній музей України / National Art Museum of Ukraine, the archive-museum, Eduard Dymshyts and other private collections.

Text - Nataliya Teramae

Translation to Finnish - Angela Pätynen

Video - Oles Datsko

Created with the support of Ukrainian Cultural Foundation, Taiteen edistämiskeskus, Ukrainalaisten yhdistys Suomessa ry