WOMEN’S IMAGES IN THE ART WORKS OF ZOIA LERMAN

Abstract

Abstract. The article has examined the art works of Zoia Lerman, the Kyiv artist and educator of the second half of the 20th century; in particular, it highlighted the subject content of women’s images in the artist’s paintings. And although the mentioned subject content prevails in the artistic legacy of Zoia Naumivna, the scientific studies having highlighted the artist’s work from this perspective are in very short supply. In modern published articles, the fellow artists emphasize the painting talent of Z. Lerman, but it is worth noting that this was not always the case, as during the Soviet period, her works were not appropriately highlighted. First of all, this is due to the fact that the creative work of Z. Lerman is of a non-conformist nature with respect to the method of socialist realism determined by the totalitarian system. The object of the article is to analyze the women’s images in different periods of the artist’s work and her unique approach to portray a personality based on the material of the selected works. Study methods. To achieve the set object, the following methods were used: method of comparative analysis, which made it possible to determine the transformational processes in the artist’s stylistics and in the construction of women’s images; biographical method, in order to find out the main stages of the painter’s artistic development; stylistic analysis, in order to determine the individual characteristics in the context of Ukrainian art of the second half of the 20th century. As a result of the analysis performed, it was found that addressing to the women’s images is a dominant direction in the painter’s works. Examining the paintings in chronological order allows us to draw conclusions that at each stage of Z. Lerman’s creative path, she resorted to a multifaceted artistic embodiment of the woman’s image, addressing to the topics that worried her. These are ballet, circus, flamenco and various aspects of parenthood. While experimenting with artistic means of expression, the artist turned mainly to the woman’s image, both in individual portraits in the early stages of her work, and in generalized interpretations of the later period. Conclusions. Today, there is a growing interest in painters, whose art works were not adequately highlighted or were even suppressed under the conditions of Soviet ideology. We can say that although Z. Lerman was ahead of her time with her works and subtle interpretation of the women’s images and absolutely clearly felt the change of eras, her paintings still remain understudied. Despite this, she became a source for the development of a new artistic vision of future Ukrainian artists, and that is why Z. Lerman’s paintings require further thorough study.