Kulchitskaia, Elena

Born Sept. 15, 1877, in the city of Berezhany, in present-day Ternopol’ Oblast; died Mar. 8, 1967, in L’vov. Soviet graphic artist and painter. People’s Artist of the Ukrainian SSR (1956).

Kul’chitskaia studied at the studio of R. Bratkovskii and S. Kachor-Batovskii in L’vov from 1901 to 1903 and at the School of Industrial Arts in Vienna from 1903 to 1908. She taught at the Ukrainian Institute of Printing and Publishing in L’vov between 1945 and 1951, becoming a professor there in 1948. In her paintings, watercolor and graphic series, and illustrations, Kul’chitskaia used generalized forms that gravitate to-ward the decorative to convey the uniqueness of the nature and architecture of the Hutzuls region, its heroic past, and the con-temporary life of its people. Her work in the decorative-applied arts was based on a detailed study of Ukrainian folk art. Kul’-chitskaia was awarded the T. G. Shevchenko State Prize of the Ukrainian SSR (1967, posthumously), two orders, and various medals.