In September last year, I bought a painting by Ukrainian painter Shoders, "Carpathian Mountain Landscapes.". When I got it, I hung it across the bed and woke up every day, as if looking up at the mountains and the distance. Putin said Ukraine is a country created by individuals. Talking about the complexity of Ukrainian territory, I suddenly remembered that the Carpathian Mountains in this painting and the painter Shoders are the best footnotes.
Slovak period young painter Shoders
Zortan Shodes (1909-1990) lived all his life in his hometown of Uzhgorod, at the foot of the Karba Mountains. But he was a citizen of 3 different countries. In 1909, the year of his birth, his hometown was still part of the Kingdom of Hungary in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and of course he was born a Hungarian. At the age of 10, with the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire after World War I, his hometown was divided into the newly established Czechoslovakia in 1919 according to the Paris Peace Conference resolution, so he was again a czechoslovak citizen. Another 20 years passed, until 1938, when his hometown was instigated by Germany, sometimes returned to Hungary, sometimes became a temporary occupation zone of Germany, and the nationality change at this time did not count. This turbulent situation was largely stable after the end of World War II. In 1945 Czechoslovakia signed a treaty with the Soviet Union, ceding his homeland to the Soviet Union. Thus, at the age of 36 he was again a citizen of the Soviet Union. Unfortunately, he died in 1990 at the age of 81, and if he waited another year, by the end of 1991, he would have seen the collapse of the Soviet Union and himself a citizen of a newly independent country, Ukraine.
Painter Shoders of the Soviet period
The transformation of the king flag at the head of the city is a force majeure for small people. The same was true for Zoltan Shodez, who spent his youth and youth as peacefully as possible in the waves of the times. In his nature, he pursued art and faith, and at the age of 20 he attended two schools (1929-1930), one at the Seminary and the other at the Academy of Fine Arts, and became one of the first graduates of the Uzhhorod School of Art. After graduation, he chose to become a priest in a mountainous Catholic church, and painting became a professional hobby outside of his profession. In 1945, at the age of 36, the Soviet Union annexed the Transkarbagne region and closed the church, and he was forced to return to the world. Because in the more than ten years of being a priest in the mountains, he learned carpentry, often helping villagers build houses and furniture, and became famous in local carpentry. He was assigned to work as a worker in a local state-run furniture factory. This point is somewhat similar to Qi Baishi, who also worked as a carpenter.
Carpathians
After the path to theology was cut off, he devoted all his energies to art. Because of his background in fine arts, he threw himself into the formation of the local art association, and in 1946 he was accepted by the Soviet Art Association as a professional painter because of his artistic achievements, and was exempted from becoming a former priest and furniture factory worker who could paint. Art is a thing, like an awl hidden in a pocket, and there is always a sharp edge that will show its head. His artistic talent and achievements were there for all to see, and he quickly became famous. In 1961 he had his first solo exhibition in Kiev, in 1965 he was elected President of the Artistic Foundation of the Republic of Ukraine, in 1975 he was awarded the title of "Meritorious Painter of the Republic", in 1983 the government of his former home country, Czechoslovakia, invited him to Budapest for a solo exhibition...
Su Shi once said, "The wind and moon in the country, the impermanent lord", this sentence may be even more so for the artist Zoltán Shodez. No matter which country this land belongs to, he has never given up his love for the mountains and rivers of his hometown, and has described him with full enthusiasm and praised him! In the local literary and art circles, he is known as "the soul singer of the Thousand Hills of Khalba (натхнним оспівувачем Закарпаття)", people always relished his addiction to the light and shadow of the mountains, searching for Qifeng to draft, and most of his life was either painting on the mountain or painting on the mountain. His son recalled that the old man had told him that "if my paintings could bring warmth, beauty and light, I would be happy to present him to the audience (Якщо мої роботи випромінюют ттепло, красу й світло, то я щасливий ділитися цим із глядачем)"。 This is probably where his happiness lies, and the secret that makes him addicted to art for a lifetime without regrets.