Borys Mykhaylov
Works
Biography
Borys Mykhailov (20 December 1959, Vorkuta – 25 December 2015, Kyiv) was a painter and graphic artist. After the children's art school in Vorkuta he studied at the B. V. Ioganson Secondary Art School in St Petersburg (Leningrad) from 1973 to 1978, receiving an Honorary Diploma of the First Degree from the USSR Academy of Arts in 1978. From 1978 to 1984 he studied monumental painting at the I. Ye. Repin Institute of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture under Prof. A. A. Mylnikov and A. L. Korolev.
In 1985 he moved to Kyiv, where he lived and worked for the rest of his life. From 1987 to 1990 he did postgraduate studies in the creative workshops of the USSR Academy of Arts in Kyiv under Academician S. A. Hryhoriev and Prof. T. N. Holembiievska. He joined the National Union of Artists of Ukraine in 1986 and received the Fedir Krychevsky Art Prize in 2006.
His main field was easel painting: landscapes, portraits, still lifes and figurative compositions on mythological, everyday, historical and religious subjects. The central theme of his work is the harmony of man and nature. His major series include "Pushkiniana" (1980–2015), "Peasant and Christian Still Lifes" (1991–2015), "Biblical Motifs" (1992–2015), "Italian Landscapes" (1996–98), "Dedications" (1996–2009) and "Dolls" (2005–13). Among his best-known paintings are "Supper at Emmaus" (1999), "Viola d'Amore" (2009) and "Peasant Silver" (2015).
He also made sculpture and illustrated books, working with the Kyiv publishing house "Veselka" from 1983. His illustrated titles include "Tales of the Peoples of Africa" (1993) and "Ukrainian Byliny" (2002). In 2003–2004 he took part in painting the Church of the Nativity on Poshtova Square in Kyiv.
His works are held by the National Museum "Kyiv Art Gallery", the Taras Shevchenko National Museum, the National Art Museum of Ukraine and the Museum of Contemporary Art of Ukraine. They are also in museums in Izmail, Yahotyn, Uman, Kadiivka, Astana (Kazakhstan) and Sozopol (Bulgaria), in the collection of the President of France, and in private collections in seventeen countries. He was the husband of the artist Yelena Mikhaylova-Rodina and the father of the artist Ivan Mykhaylov. His life and work are described in the Encyclopedia of Modern Ukraine (2018).
Selected exhibitions
- 2016
V. I. Vernadsky National Library of Ukraine, Kyiv (posthumous solo)
- 2016
Museum of Books and Printing of Ukraine, Kyiv (posthumous solo)
- 2014
"Mytets" Gallery, Kyiv
Solo exhibition
- 2014
"Ukrainian Landscape", Mystetskyi Arsenal, Kyiv
- 2010
Central House of Artists, Kyiv
Solo exhibition
- 2009
Institute of International Relations, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv
Solo exhibition
- 2007
"Pecherska Gallery" Cultural Centre, Kyiv
Solo exhibition
- 2006
"Art & Vision" Gallery, Geneva, Switzerland
Solo exhibition
- 2006
National Reserve "Sophia of Kyiv", "Khlibnia" exhibition hall, Kyiv
Solo exhibition
- 2006
"Ukrainian Classical Painting", National Reserve "Sophia of Kyiv", "Khlibnia" exhibition hall, Kyiv
- 2005
A-House Gallery, Kyiv
Solo exhibition
- 2005
Art-Blues Gallery, Kyiv
Solo exhibition
- 2005
"Ukrainian Painting", Palace of Arts, Częstochowa, and Monastery of St Benedict, Kraków, Poland
- 2001–2005
"Art & Vision" Gallery, Geneva, Switzerland
Solo exhibition
- 2002
"Art of Ukraine", Central House of Artists, Moscow, Russia
- 2001
Palais des Nations (United Nations), Geneva, Switzerland
Solo exhibition
- 2000
Congress Hotel Ambassador, Bern, Switzerland
Solo exhibition
- 2000
Cultural Centre "Le Moulin des Evaux", Geneva, Switzerland
Solo exhibition
- 2000
Embassy of Ukraine, Bern, Switzerland
Solo exhibition
- 1999
National Bank of Ukraine, Kyiv
Solo exhibition
- 1999
Central House of Artists, Kyiv
Solo exhibition
- 1999
Delafontaine Gallery, Geneva, Switzerland
Solo exhibition
- 1999
International Salon "Europ'Art 99", Geneva, Switzerland
- 1999
Exhibition of Contemporary Ukrainian Art, Switzerland
- 1998
USAID (American Center for International Development), Kyiv
Solo exhibition
- 1998
Exhibition of Ukrainian Artists, Kyoto, Japan
- 1998
International Art Salon "TsDKh-98", Moscow, Russia
- 1998
Exhibition of Ukrainian Artists, Porto, Portugal
- 1997
Yaroslav the Wise International Educational Foundation, Kyiv
Solo exhibition
- 1997
Exhibition of Kyiv Artists, Santiago de Compostela, Spain
- 1996
Art Gallery of the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, Kyiv
Solo exhibition
- 1996
Taras Shevchenko State Museum, Kyiv
Solo exhibition
- 1996
Days of Ukrainian Culture, Bratislava, Slovakia
- 1996
Exhibition of Six Ukrainian Artists, Marbella, Spain
- 1993
Kunsthaus Gallery, Vienna, Austria
Solo exhibition
- 1992
Kyiv Art Gallery, Kyiv
Solo exhibition
- 1992
Exhibition of Kyiv Artists, Munich, Germany
- 1990
Exhibition of Contemporary Ukrainian Painting, London, UK
- 1990
Christie's and Phillips auctions, London, UK
- 1983
Russian Academy of Arts, St Petersburg (Leningrad)
Solo exhibition