Mykola Shmatko | |
---|---|
Микола Шматько | |
Born | |
Died | 15 September 2020 | (aged 77)
Nationality | Ukrainian |
Occupation(s) | Sculptor, painter |
Website | Marble sculpture of King of marble of Nicolai Shmatko |
Mykola Havrylovych Shmatko (Ukrainian: Микола Гаврилович Шматько; 17 August 1943 – 15 September 2020) was a Ukrainian sculptor and painter. He was born in the Donetsk region of Ukraine.[1]
Shmatko became a sculptor at the age of 33, having previously been a firefighter.[2] During all his creative development Nikolai Shmatko created more than 750 various monuments and about 500 pictures.[3]
He worked in marble, inspired by European culture and art. His studio and gallery contain 100 sculptures (more than 70 of which are made of Ural and Italian marble); 30 plaster casts; and about 300 pictures (including paintings, graphics, and architectural designs). In total, there are approximately 750 pieces, ranging from simple decorations to bas-relief and high relief busts and sculptures.[4] Some of these pieces are sexually explicit and even pornographic.[5][6] Shmatko also worked in architecture, and had a design for a penis-shaped high-rise building.[7]
In 2004, for his work "Sviatohorska Blessed Virgin" - a statue of the Virgin Mary (Theotokos "Hegumenia") for Sviato-Uspenskyi Sviatohorskyi Monastery - Shmatko was awarded the order of Nestor Letopisets by Volodymyr Sabodan, the Kyiv Metropolitan, and all of Ukraine.[8]
In the autumn of 2005 the Transfiguration church was opened in the village of Keleberda, Poltava region. Exclusively for this church, the sculptor created a marble sculpture "The Crucifixion".[3]
In autumn 2012, at the invitation of oligarch Viktor Baloha,[9] Shmatko moved with his family to the city of Mukachevo.[10][11]