The Last Supper 1913

Mykhailo Boychuk created 'The Last Supper', location and date of creation unknown, with what looks like tempera paint. It has a very earthy palette of reds, umbers, and ochres. This piece feels like a dance between the past and the present. I imagine Boychuk, steeped in the traditions of Byzantine art, yet yearning to express something new, something deeply personal to his time in the early 20th century. The weight of history, the desire to break free, must have felt like a real struggle. I bet it came out in the physicality of the paint! Take, for example, the way the halos are rendered; flat circles of gold that simultaneously evoke a sense of ancient divinity, but also a contemporary aesthetic sensibility. Boychuk is in conversation with his predecessors but is also boldly making his own mark! It reminds me that art-making is about that back and forth: between tradition and experimentation, reverence and irreverence. It’s about finding your voice within the chorus of voices that have come before.