Художественная среда Львова второй половины ХХ века

The present paper constitutes a concise overview of the Lvov/Lviv (and also Western Ukraine) artistic life during the Soviet times and after the regaining independence by Ukraine. Author focuses on the informal or semi-informal art of this former part of Poland (and partly of Hungary), as it was one of the latest "additions" to the Soviet Union, hence it was more independent artistically and prone to European influence than the east parts of Soviet Ukraine that were heavily influenced by the Socrealism doctrine of official art imposed already in 1932. The only official way to practise non-figurative abstract art was by means of objects of decorative and applied arts based on the folk motives. During the Thaw period Lvov was one of the few regions in the USSR with the ample supply of foreign (albeit Eastern bloc) art periodicals that influenced the local community. The artisan glass and ceramics were appreciated abroad (France, Italy). After the fall of the USRR, in the independent Ukraine, the Nonconformist artists (who were barely tolerated in the Soviet era and frequently persecuted) took the place formerly occupied by the loyalist Soviet creators. The artistic community of Lviv returned to the abstract art. There were also expressionist and surrealist trends as well as postmodernists. The independence meant also a possibility of more active contact with foreign art and frequent participation of the local artists in international exhibitions. Lviv continues to be an active and important art centre although it has become a provincial one, as the capital of Ukraine, Kyiv is leading the contemporary art scene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]