The Nationally Oriented Self-Identification of an Artist (on the Example of the Creative Work of Solomiia Krushelnytska and Mykhailo Krechko)

The purpose of the article is to analyse the life and work of outstanding representatives of the Ukrainian cultural space of the 20th century S. Krushelnytska and M. Krechko through the prism of a vividly expressed national mentality in their work, which was realised in the conditions of Ukraine’s loss of its own statehood and the imposition of the Soviet regime. The research methodology is based on the use of the biographical method, which allows us to outline the main characteristics of artists’ life and work during the reign of the totalitarian ideology of the Soviet government; the analytical method makes it possible to prove the idea based on the nationally oriented worldview of S. Krushelnytska and M. Krechko, as well as the logical and inductive, systematic methods for determining both general and common features of the world perception of artists through the prism of creative and life narratives; the culture-historical approach allows us to characterise the main features of the self-identification of outstanding masters of the Ukrainian cultural space. The scientific novelty of the study lies in the fact that for the first time in the cultural aspect, the figures of S. Krushelnytska and M. Krechko are compared through the prism of their national self-awareness, which crystallised in creative activity. Conclusions. The life and work of the famous Ukrainian artists Solomiia Krushelnytska and Mykhailo Krechko have common features, which can be characterised by a sincere love for the history, culture, traditions of the Ukrainian nation, popularisation, and preservation of its unique culture, a strong and strong-willed personal Ukrainian-oriented position, firmness of their beliefs. It should be emphasised that the national consciousness, and hence the clear nation-building position of S. Krushelnytska and M. Krechko, was formed not only by internal resistance to the oppression of the Soviet government but, above all, by a vivid manifestation of their self-identification, a deep sense of their national roots.