Over the Dnieper 1979

Yuriy Khymych made this oil painting, Over the Dnieper, with its flattened perspective, bold outlines and blocks of color, it’s a beautiful, decorative scene. I imagine Khymych standing on a hill, looking out over the river and painting what he sees with quick, decisive strokes. The paint looks pretty thin, like he wanted to capture the light reflecting off the water, the domes of the cathedrals, and the foliage of the trees. There’s something almost naive about the way he's depicted the crosses, like symbols, and that pink roof is great. It reminds me of Matisse's rooftops of Tangier, and I bet Khymych was looking at some of the same stuff as Matisse, simplifying and flattening to its essence. It reminds me that making art is a conversation across time, where we all riff off each other. It's exciting to see how different artists take on similar challenges, trying to make sense of the world through color, form, and gesture.