Landscape with houses. Stebliv (?) 1956

Editor: This ink drawing, “Landscape with houses. Stebliv (?)”, was created by Hryhorii Havrylenko in 1956. I’m immediately drawn to its simplicity and the quietness of the scene. What stories do you think this landscape holds? Curator: The tranquility you observe belies a complex history. Considering it was drawn in 1956, we need to see this “Landscape” through a Soviet lens. Post-Stalin, but still within a system that dictated artistic expression, Havrylenko’s choice to depict a rural scene becomes a subtle act of resistance. It’s an assertion of Ukrainian identity, rooting itself in the land when urban, industrial progress was the mandated subject. Editor: Resistance, really? It feels so… gentle. Curator: Exactly! It's gentle precisely because outright opposition was dangerous. Think about what’s *not* shown – no collective farms, no grand industrial projects. The focus is on individual dwellings, perhaps hinting at a yearning for personal autonomy, for a return to traditional ways of life erased by Soviet collectivization. What does that style of line work suggest to you? Editor: It’s very free, almost like a quick sketch. I guess that freedom could be seen as pushing back against the rigid artistic guidelines of the time. Curator: Precisely. Even the medium – ink on paper, suggesting a personal sketchbook – moves it away from monumental, state-sanctioned art. This small work becomes a quiet testament to enduring cultural memory, a soft whisper of dissent disguised as a simple landscape. Does that change how you view it? Editor: Definitely. I hadn't considered the political undertones at all. It makes you wonder what else is hidden in plain sight. Curator: It’s a reminder that art, even seemingly simple landscapes, can be powerful acts of cultural preservation and subtle defiance. And that’s a perspective that matters profoundly today.