Portrait of a teacher. Sculptor Borodai Vasyl Zakharovych. 2010.

The portrait of the outstanding Ukrainian artist Vasyl Zakharovych Borodai was created immediately after the master’s departure to eternity. A special sincerity, a deep look, which seemed to grasp the meaning of all life, the depth of real feelings are characteristic of the portrait. With special love, the sculptor Oleksiy Leonov conveys the portrait features and rich inner world of his teacher, to whom he owes not only professional skill, but also life wisdom. The portrait expresses gratitude to Life, for the happiness of receiving a great blessing – to have a true Teacher.

Vasyl Zakharovych Borodai is a world-renowned sculptor who, with his talent and insightful creativity, glorified Ukrainian art far beyond its borders. The easel works of the master are characterized by lyricism, cordiality, admiration for the beauty of body forms, and the depth of psychological characteristics. Among them are the compositions “Youth” (1951), “Ivan Bohun”, “Lesya Ukrainka” (1953), “Memories of a Comrade” (1974), “And Mother is Waiting” (1985). A series of graphic drawings and sculptures from the cycle “Around Egypt” (1961–64) attracts special attention.

The most famous monumental works of the sculptor, which became a model for several generations of sculptors. Monuments to Taras Shevchenko – in Arrow Park (USA, 1970) and in Bila Bor (Poland, 1986) were executed with great skill and the solution of extremely complex volumetric and spatial tasks, a composition beloved by all Ukrainians, which became a brand of the capital of Ukraine, – “Founders of Kyiv – Kiy, his brother Shchek, Horiv and sister Lybid”, which was installed on the right bank of the Dnieper in Kyiv (1982), the fundamental monumental work “Ukraine – Mother” (1981).

Eternal glory and memory to the great Master!