| Valeriy Shmatko - biography |
Valeriy Shmatko was born in 1965 in Kharikiv, Ukraine and is still living there today. He studied at the Kharkiv
Art Institute graduating in 1988 with a dual degree in painting and painting restoration. Shmatko has been
exhibiting his work since 1991. His works have been exhibited in the Kharkiv Art Museum and the Donetsk Art
Museum in addition to private galleries in Kharkiv, Kiev and New York.
Valeriy Shmatko describes his art as ‘realistic painting’. He delights in the beauty of nature, which inspires him
to paint the landscapes of his native Ukraine. His attentive observations of nature help him to create a ‘real’ or
accurate picture of this world. It is important to Shmatko that the viewer easily understand his art.
Light inspires him to choose a subject and create a composition where form, space, tone and color are in total
harmony. Many years of painting on location has taught Shmatko the mastery of color. The infinite shades and
tones of his palette are layered in a sophisticated, yet subtle manner. He paints studies on location and then
creates larger canvases in his studio. He especially loves to paint the Black Seashore in Crimea
Valeriy Shmatko's creation, everything created by him is filled with the wonderful enjoyment of the man whose
ability of self-expression in any genre of the arts (he is a restorer, painter, drawer, master of ceramics) is a
natural longing, the substance of his heart. As it seems to us, Shmatko is a master of exceptional self-
discipline who tries to reach the level of the artistic perfection known to himself only, in the base of which the
deep professional knowledge of the pictorial technology of the classical time is brought to the exquisite
workmanship. His works remind creations of the best masters of the European landscape school, they are
complete and balanced in coloring and plasticity. His works are dynamical, lively and warmed with not
indifferent glare of the artist, they are in harmony with the mood of a man, they do not depress him but win him
round, where you feel yourself lightly and cozy, and the artist's imagination lets him to deviate from the
naturalistic interpretation of the nature. The artist's style and creative method seems us also verified on: his
canvasses with their apparent unhurried manner and impressiveness of his works and almost mathematical
expectation come in the world owing to instantaneous impulses as a response on almost sensual level.
Valeriy paints his works in different formats - from tiny sketches (like one of his beloved painters Ivan
Pokhitonov) to considerable elongated freeze compositions; it seems to us that the latter are his favorite ones.
His typical horizontal landscape is really rhythms of steppe scopes of the south - a strip of shore, of water, of
clouds, of field, of forest, - which gives a sensation of appeal, from the chamber filling of the image to the
lyricism of the epic landscape. It is very often a far-away view with the low skyline where there is not much sky,
but the composition is fragmentary and open, so that gives a possibility to see more than it is apparent, to
extend the horizon. As a real landscape painter Valeriy is very attentive to the regional peculiarities of a painted
landscape. The Crimean landscapes exactly render a sensation of hot, incandescent air where everything
moves, vibrates, modifies its appearance, so the artist sees the Crimea, its hills, color of mountains, of the
sea, of rocks, of seaside shore not as local ones but as cloaked with variable reflexes, light-blue and warm-
sunny ones, as a play of light and gleam, visible only in some certain states.
Owing to the masterly employment of diverse modes of the laying on coat, of the specific relief modeling of the
pictorial surface, the artist convincingly paints the transparent thickness of water, peculiarities of the texture of
the coastal vegetation, of rocks, of sands, the typical Crimean architecture which reminds the past of that
region and at the same time it keeps its mysteries. Seascapes of the artist have mainly plain air character
where the master wonderfully renders all the charm of the southern region and its romanticized aroma.
Sometimes they have meditative character, the sensation of the mood of the quiet immersion into the space,
the sensation so characteristic for the mood of a man observing the sea in a calm weather where the
immobility of rocks is revitalized with the motion of waves and clouds. On the contrary, the state of the northern
landscape (the artist has very many views connected with Arkhangelsk) is under the thick layer of air and is
slightly damped down in its tonality, but despite all the unlikeness and the geographical remoteness both the
Crimea and the north have the general coloristic principle - the brightness and the many-coloring of paints.
Landscapes of the Slobodian Ukraine are marked with the same features, they are refined and perfect in its
composition; in those landscapes there are united organically, elaborately but not accidentally select motifs
with the high culture of their pictorial embodiment, a clean saturated color, where the master has been able to
render both little details and general harmony of the painted space.
Very often the fine arts are compared with the music: line is compared with melody and coloring is compared
with its arrangement. Just the efficient employment of the linear rhythm and of the picturesque masses is the
basis of the compositional thought of the artist. There are not any discordant note because of the absence of
sharpness of coloring dabs, completed and noble, based on the strong contrasts of the color, mainly warm
and cold, where the artist's attentions is centered on the rhythmical repetitions of lines, dabs, forms, where the
nature of the touch and the texture of painting (which is sound and blind) and the architectonics of the surface,
with the employment of mainly diagonal rhythms, are shown openly. Really the artist's painting enriched with
coloring gradations arouses a sensation of the precious mosaic: its coloring polyphony is directed in the depth
but not on the surface, coloring dabs are soft and springy, they glimmer with all the shades and those especial
reflections which can shine from inside and with restraint like on the pictures of real masters.
Valeriy Shmatko's art, his own author face, the aesthetical dominant of his creation has some components
inherent in the Ukrainian national landscape: they are picturesqueness, figurativeness, mode of giving, original
coloring typical for the different regions of Ukraine and foreign countries, sincere experience of scene and
depicted. He is a real master who in the modern rhythms of life and art courses has been able to create his
own style where the tradition and the classics are united with pictorial stylistics of the artist of the 21-st century.
Exhibitions:
2011 “International Salon of Traditional Art” at Silvana Gallery, Glendale, CA
2011 “Russian and Ukrainian Impressionism” at Silvana Gallery, Glendale, CA
2010 “Great Impressions – Masters of Fine Art” at Silvana gallery, Glendale, CA
2004 October. In the S.l.Vasylkivsky's Way: Look through Centuries Exhibition. The Kharkiv Art Museum.
Kharkiv, Ukraine
2003 Mini Print International Exhibition. Barselona, Spain
2002 Mini Print International Exhibition. Barselona, Spain
April ARTEXPO. Croup Exhibition of Ukrainian Artists. Moscow, Russia
2001 November Lilian Berkeley's Collection. Exhibition of Russian and Ukrainian Artists. Escondido,
California. USA
2001 November ARTEXPO. San Francisco, California. The USA
March ARTEXPO New York. USA
2001 Artist's Day All-Ukrainian Art Exhibition. Kyiv
All-Ukrainian Art Exhibition. Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine
2000 December All-Ukrainian Art Exhibition. To the 2000-th An
2000 November ARTEXPO. San Francisco, California. The USA
2000 Universary of the Cristmas. Kyiv, Ukraine
2000 All-Ukrainian Spring Exhibition. Kyiv, Ukraine
2000 March ARTEXPO. New York. The USA
1999 All-Ukrainian Exhibition Dedicated to the 155-th Anniversary of the I.Ye.Repin Birthday. Kharkiv, Ukraine
1998 Picturesque Ukraine All-Ukrainian Exhibition. Lugansk, Ukraine
Personal Exhibition:
2000 The Kharkiv Art Museum. Kharkiv, Ukraine.
2000-2004 Terrapin Chelsey. Art Gallery. NewYork. The USA
Art Institute graduating in 1988 with a dual degree in painting and painting restoration. Shmatko has been
exhibiting his work since 1991. His works have been exhibited in the Kharkiv Art Museum and the Donetsk Art
Museum in addition to private galleries in Kharkiv, Kiev and New York.
Valeriy Shmatko describes his art as ‘realistic painting’. He delights in the beauty of nature, which inspires him
to paint the landscapes of his native Ukraine. His attentive observations of nature help him to create a ‘real’ or
accurate picture of this world. It is important to Shmatko that the viewer easily understand his art.
Light inspires him to choose a subject and create a composition where form, space, tone and color are in total
harmony. Many years of painting on location has taught Shmatko the mastery of color. The infinite shades and
tones of his palette are layered in a sophisticated, yet subtle manner. He paints studies on location and then
creates larger canvases in his studio. He especially loves to paint the Black Seashore in Crimea
Valeriy Shmatko's creation, everything created by him is filled with the wonderful enjoyment of the man whose
ability of self-expression in any genre of the arts (he is a restorer, painter, drawer, master of ceramics) is a
natural longing, the substance of his heart. As it seems to us, Shmatko is a master of exceptional self-
discipline who tries to reach the level of the artistic perfection known to himself only, in the base of which the
deep professional knowledge of the pictorial technology of the classical time is brought to the exquisite
workmanship. His works remind creations of the best masters of the European landscape school, they are
complete and balanced in coloring and plasticity. His works are dynamical, lively and warmed with not
indifferent glare of the artist, they are in harmony with the mood of a man, they do not depress him but win him
round, where you feel yourself lightly and cozy, and the artist's imagination lets him to deviate from the
naturalistic interpretation of the nature. The artist's style and creative method seems us also verified on: his
canvasses with their apparent unhurried manner and impressiveness of his works and almost mathematical
expectation come in the world owing to instantaneous impulses as a response on almost sensual level.
Valeriy paints his works in different formats - from tiny sketches (like one of his beloved painters Ivan
Pokhitonov) to considerable elongated freeze compositions; it seems to us that the latter are his favorite ones.
His typical horizontal landscape is really rhythms of steppe scopes of the south - a strip of shore, of water, of
clouds, of field, of forest, - which gives a sensation of appeal, from the chamber filling of the image to the
lyricism of the epic landscape. It is very often a far-away view with the low skyline where there is not much sky,
but the composition is fragmentary and open, so that gives a possibility to see more than it is apparent, to
extend the horizon. As a real landscape painter Valeriy is very attentive to the regional peculiarities of a painted
landscape. The Crimean landscapes exactly render a sensation of hot, incandescent air where everything
moves, vibrates, modifies its appearance, so the artist sees the Crimea, its hills, color of mountains, of the
sea, of rocks, of seaside shore not as local ones but as cloaked with variable reflexes, light-blue and warm-
sunny ones, as a play of light and gleam, visible only in some certain states.
Owing to the masterly employment of diverse modes of the laying on coat, of the specific relief modeling of the
pictorial surface, the artist convincingly paints the transparent thickness of water, peculiarities of the texture of
the coastal vegetation, of rocks, of sands, the typical Crimean architecture which reminds the past of that
region and at the same time it keeps its mysteries. Seascapes of the artist have mainly plain air character
where the master wonderfully renders all the charm of the southern region and its romanticized aroma.
Sometimes they have meditative character, the sensation of the mood of the quiet immersion into the space,
the sensation so characteristic for the mood of a man observing the sea in a calm weather where the
immobility of rocks is revitalized with the motion of waves and clouds. On the contrary, the state of the northern
landscape (the artist has very many views connected with Arkhangelsk) is under the thick layer of air and is
slightly damped down in its tonality, but despite all the unlikeness and the geographical remoteness both the
Crimea and the north have the general coloristic principle - the brightness and the many-coloring of paints.
Landscapes of the Slobodian Ukraine are marked with the same features, they are refined and perfect in its
composition; in those landscapes there are united organically, elaborately but not accidentally select motifs
with the high culture of their pictorial embodiment, a clean saturated color, where the master has been able to
render both little details and general harmony of the painted space.
Very often the fine arts are compared with the music: line is compared with melody and coloring is compared
with its arrangement. Just the efficient employment of the linear rhythm and of the picturesque masses is the
basis of the compositional thought of the artist. There are not any discordant note because of the absence of
sharpness of coloring dabs, completed and noble, based on the strong contrasts of the color, mainly warm
and cold, where the artist's attentions is centered on the rhythmical repetitions of lines, dabs, forms, where the
nature of the touch and the texture of painting (which is sound and blind) and the architectonics of the surface,
with the employment of mainly diagonal rhythms, are shown openly. Really the artist's painting enriched with
coloring gradations arouses a sensation of the precious mosaic: its coloring polyphony is directed in the depth
but not on the surface, coloring dabs are soft and springy, they glimmer with all the shades and those especial
reflections which can shine from inside and with restraint like on the pictures of real masters.
Valeriy Shmatko's art, his own author face, the aesthetical dominant of his creation has some components
inherent in the Ukrainian national landscape: they are picturesqueness, figurativeness, mode of giving, original
coloring typical for the different regions of Ukraine and foreign countries, sincere experience of scene and
depicted. He is a real master who in the modern rhythms of life and art courses has been able to create his
own style where the tradition and the classics are united with pictorial stylistics of the artist of the 21-st century.
Exhibitions:
2011 “International Salon of Traditional Art” at Silvana Gallery, Glendale, CA
2011 “Russian and Ukrainian Impressionism” at Silvana Gallery, Glendale, CA
2010 “Great Impressions – Masters of Fine Art” at Silvana gallery, Glendale, CA
2004 October. In the S.l.Vasylkivsky's Way: Look through Centuries Exhibition. The Kharkiv Art Museum.
Kharkiv, Ukraine
2003 Mini Print International Exhibition. Barselona, Spain
2002 Mini Print International Exhibition. Barselona, Spain
April ARTEXPO. Croup Exhibition of Ukrainian Artists. Moscow, Russia
2001 November Lilian Berkeley's Collection. Exhibition of Russian and Ukrainian Artists. Escondido,
California. USA
2001 November ARTEXPO. San Francisco, California. The USA
March ARTEXPO New York. USA
2001 Artist's Day All-Ukrainian Art Exhibition. Kyiv
All-Ukrainian Art Exhibition. Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine
2000 December All-Ukrainian Art Exhibition. To the 2000-th An
2000 November ARTEXPO. San Francisco, California. The USA
2000 Universary of the Cristmas. Kyiv, Ukraine
2000 All-Ukrainian Spring Exhibition. Kyiv, Ukraine
2000 March ARTEXPO. New York. The USA
1999 All-Ukrainian Exhibition Dedicated to the 155-th Anniversary of the I.Ye.Repin Birthday. Kharkiv, Ukraine
1998 Picturesque Ukraine All-Ukrainian Exhibition. Lugansk, Ukraine
Personal Exhibition:
2000 The Kharkiv Art Museum. Kharkiv, Ukraine.
2000-2004 Terrapin Chelsey. Art Gallery. NewYork. The USA
| Valeriy Shmatko International Salon of Traditional Art |
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