Female image 1975

This drawing of a woman's face, simply rendered in ink, was made by Hryhorii Havrylenko, a Ukranian artist who died in 1984. The image presents a serene face, made of clean, unbroken lines. Havrylenko's biography is crucial to understanding this picture. He belonged to a generation of artists who came of age during the period of so-called 'socialist realism.' In Ukraine and Russia, artists were expected to celebrate the achievements of the Soviet Union. The institutions of art - schools, galleries, museums - were all devoted to this project. Havrylenko defied these expectations. It has been said that he was a 'nonconformist' whose works were never officially recognized during his lifetime. While it is difficult to say exactly when this picture was made, it stands as an eloquent, and perhaps subversive, assertion of individual vision against the grain of Soviet culture. To learn more about artists who defied Soviet cultural norms, look to archives of unofficial art organizations in Ukraine.