The Taras Shevchenko Museum is pleased to launch its sixty-fifth season with REFLECTIONS - an exhibition of pastels by Roksolyana Pidhainy-Benoit. Opening on Saturday, October 28 at 3:30 pm, it will run until December 15, 2017. The artist, for whom this is a first solo show in Canada, will be present. Refreshments served.

Born in Toronto, Roksolyana spent her childhood years in both Canada and the United States where her father, a professor of Ukrainian history, taught in various universities. From early on, under his influence, a profound love for Ukraine grew within her, and she reflects that love of her heritage through the use of Ukrainian symbols in her artwork. Sacred themes of family, home, hearth, and the bond between mothers and daughters all figure prominently as she creates a compelling blend of the intellectual-historical traditions of her father with the emotional, at-home traditions of her mother.

Created between 1997 and 2017, REFLECTIONS will feature pastel portraits and still-life compositions influenced both by her Ukrainian culture and her admiration of the great masters – Rembrandt, Cezanne, and Degas. An additional source of inspiration in her art is the story of Roksolyana, the young Ukrainian woman captured by the Turks in the 16th century, who went on to become a beloved wife of and key adviser to Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent.

Exuding great energy, Roksolyana Pidhainy-Benoit bravely transfers her innermost emotions on to paper. “My first love and abiding passion is portraiture”, says the artist. “A portrait is a window into the state and the soul, a dance between the artist and the subject. Are they always pretty? I'm searching for that beauty that is truth.”

A graduate of the Ontario College of Art, and a member of the Ukrainian Association of Visual Artists of Canada, Roksolyana has participated in various group shows and her works are located in private collections across Canada and the USA.

The exhibition will continue until December 15, 2017. Gallery hours: Mon-Wed, Fri 10am - 4pm; Thurs 12-7pm, weekends and holidays by appointment. Although admission is free, donations are greatly appreciated. EVERYONE WELCOME!

“Reflections” exhibition and sale by Roksolyana Pidhainy-Benoit - Article by Ayah Victoria McKhail

A major Shevchenko book was published by the Taras Shevchenko Museum in Toronto. It celebrated the 200th anniversary of the birth of the great poet Taras Shevchenko on March 9, 2014. The project, started in 2010, resulted in a book with a selection of fifty poems in Ukrainian, English and French.

Canada has created more Shevchenkiana than any other English speaking country. Translators include C.H. Andrusyshen & W. Kirkconnell, A.J. Hunter, John Weir, Honore Ewach, Florence Randal Livesay, and Mary Skrypnyk, Also the scholarly works on Shevchenko by Prof. George Luckyj of the University of Toronto are a valuable resource in English. The book KOBZAR (Minstrel in Ukrainian), will be a hard bound deluxe edition with gold stamping. Among the poems included are Dumy Moyi, Hamaliya, Dumka, Subotiv and Ivan Pidkova. A facsimile of Zapovit (Testimony), a great Shevchenko poem translated into almost 150 languages of the world, will be included.

Taras Shevchenko (1814-1861) established the beauty of the modern Ukrainian literary language. Shevchenko was not only a genius as a poet; he was also a talented artist who painted portraits as his profession. The book includeS 16 color pages of paintings by Shevchenko including his self-portraits.

Hard cover, 231 pages. Price: $40.00

To order please call (416) 534-8662 or email: shevchenkomuseum@bellnet.ca