Ukrainian Scenographic Modernism in Early 20th Century: Explorations and Experiments

The article examines the main aspects of the creative activity of the outstanding Ukrainian theater artist Anatol Petrytsky — one of the most famous representatives of the national scenographic group who along with Vadym Meller, Oleksandr Khvostenko-Khvostov, Borys Kosarev, and others developed new modernist spatial concepts of the national stage space and laid the foundations for the functionality of the theatrical costume in the performance. The factors of the artist’s creative growth are presented against the background of social, historical and cultural phenomena of the country’s development in the context of the theatrical and artistic realities of Ukrainian culture in the early 20th century. The author analyzes the historical, social, and psychological manifestations of the artist’s creative personality formation — from the initial presentations of the author’s style to the creation of the latest constructive projects of the 1920s and early 1930s, which are significant for the cultural and artistic life of Ukraine. The article traces the evolution of Petrytsky’s national consciousness, it raises the issue of the influence on his worldview of the theories and practices of outstanding Ukrainian intellectuals Vasyl Krychevsky, Oleksandra Ekster and Les Kurbas who were not only the founders of symbolic and cultural phenomena in the realm of national theater, visual arts, and cinema but contributed to Petrytsky’s strong national foundation in the modernist systems as well. The article also addresses the questions about the role of the costume in the sketch and scenographic projects of the scenographer