Wadym Dobrolige

Wadym Dobrolige (December 7, 1913, Nizhyn, Chernihiv Province, Russian Empire, now Chernihiv Oblast, Ukraine - October 4, 1973, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada) was a Ukrainian-Canadian artist, painter and decorator.
==Life==
Wadym Dobrolige was born on December 7, 1913 in Nizhyn, Chernihiv region of modern Ukraine. Wadym's father worked as an engineer, and his mother was a nurse. He went to school in Nizhyn. The family lived in Moldova for two years, and then moved to Kyiv.Самойленко Г.В. Вадим Доброліж – художник із Ніжина. Ніжинська старовина. 2007. Вип. 3(6). С. 130-135 due to the transfer of the father to another positionWadym Dobrolige: Album. Edmonton, 1985. In 1931, he entered the Kyiv Art Institute, from which he graduated in 1935 (teacher V. KrychevskyiВіртуальна виставка робіт Вадима Доброліжа). He also studied at the Leningrad Institute of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture (1936)Самойленко Г.В. Доброліж Вадим Володимирович. Енциклопедія Сучасної України. К. : Інститут енциклопедичних досліджень НАН України, 2008.). He was arrested, sent to Kolyma in the Khabarovsk region of Russia, then to Khabarovsk. Released under amnesty in 1938. In 1941, Dobrolige was mobilized into the ranks of the Red Army. In the same year, he married the pianist Valentyna Pushkar, a student of the Kyiv Conservatory.
In 1943, Dobrolige, his wife and daughter Natalka, due to the offensive of the Soviet army, were forced to go west - through Poland and Czechoslovakia to Germany, where they stayed on a farm near Weimar until May 1945. After the capitulation of Germany and the arrival of US troops, the Dobrolige family ended up in the Heidenau displaced persons camp near Hamburg, where Wadym organized an art studio.
==Legacy==
The talent for drawing and painting appeared in childhood. In school, under the guidance of the drawing teacher M. Timofiev Wadym made decorations for school celebrations and painted landscapes from nature. At the Kyiv Art Institute, he studied landscape painting and portraiture under prof. F. Krychevsky; decorative painting, in particular, stage and theater painting, by prof. M. Strunnikova. He got acquainted with easel graphics and book design in the workshop of S. Nalepynska-BoychukWadym Dobrolige: Album. Edmonton, 1985. After graduating from the institute, he deepened his studies in monumental art for a year.
After studying in Leningrad and returning to Kyiv, he worked as a book illustrator. For "suspicious" drawings in a children's book, Dobrolige as an illustrator was arrested together with the book's author and editor. In exile in Khabarovsk Krai, the talent of the imprisoned monumentalist painter was used in the painting of the officers' club and the design of theatrical performances. Dobrolige also painted a portrait of one of the leaders of the camp. In 1938, Dobrolige was rehabilitated and released from the camp.
After returning to Kyiv, Dobrolige got the position of assistant decorator and stage lighting engineer at the Kyiv Film Studio. There he worked under the leadership of Oleksandr Dovzhenko until the beginning of the Second World War.
During his stay in the camp for displaced persons, Wadym Dobrolige, together with other artists, founded and headed an art studio. In Germany, he created scenographies for camp theater performancesСвітло проти темряви: Різдвяні листівки української діаспори з 40-х по 70-ті.. There he created more than 20 portraits, three icons for the camp church, landscapes, still lifes, and decorated most of the camp performances for the Ukrainian theater. He also participated in the creation of the "Zagrava" publishing house, designed several books. During 1945-1948, he participated with his works in camp exhibitions in Heidenau, Hamburg, Hanover and at the headquarters of the British occupation forces.
After moving to Canada in 1948, he worked as a monumentalist painter for the painting of St. Volodymyr's Church in Vegreville, although before that he had no experience of working with church art in Soviet Ukraine. Dobrolige performed the work in the style of realism with distinctive Ukrainian features. Due to the peculiarities of the construction of the wooden church, he executed separate icons that were placed on the walls. The icons differed in perfect proportions, rhythm, harmony and skillful performance technique. Ornamentation contained features of Byzantineism, classicism and Ukrainian folk motifs. The polychromy of St. Volodymyr's Church in Vegreville is considered the first work of this type in Western Canada.
After moving to Edmonton in 1951, he worked as a decorative artist for the Hudson's Bay Company, designing exhibitions, store windows, etc. One of the iconic works is the portrait of Princess Elizabeth, prepared for her visit in 1951. Dobrolige also took part in the decorated procession in honor of the princess's visit.
From 1955, he worked in the field of church art and decoration. His authorship includes paintings in several dozen churches across Canada. Over the years of creative activity, he painted church paintings, icons and iconostasis in many Ukrainian churches, mainly in the province of Alberta, as well as in Saskatchewan and Quebec. Dobrolige executed iconostasis with wood carving, taking into account the architectural style of churches and following Ukrainian traditions in the general design and ornamentation. The most famous and significant work of Dobrolige is the iconostasis of the Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral of St. John in Edmonton, on which he worked during 1970-1973. The iconostasis was made in the Ukrainian (Cossack) Baroque style. This iconostasis is considered a classic example of iconostasis of Ukrainian churches in Canada.
Dobrolige created portraits, landscapes, still lifes, narrative compositions ("Self-Portrait", 1947; "Daughter Natalka", "Wife", "Metropolitan Hilarion", 1962; the series "Flowers"). Some works are dedicated to Ukraine: "Cossack fate. Kodnia", 1947; "Abandoned House", 1949; "Winter in Ukraine", 1969; "Ukrainian village"; "Old Mill"; sculptural works: portraits of Taras Shevchenko, Ivan Franko, "Dancer"; "Sunflowers", "Poppies", "Viburnum", "Bandura"Самойленко Г.В. Доброліж Вадим Володимирович. Енциклопедія Сучасної України. К. : Інститут енциклопедичних досліджень НАН України, 2008.. One of Dobrolige's most valuable paintings is considered to be the painting "Runaways", which depicts the fate of Ukrainian families who were forced to leave the Motherland.
During his years of living in Canada, Wadym Dobrolige also actively worked on the decoration of the stage performances in Edmonton: "Natalka Poltavka", "Courting at Honcharivka", "Night on Ivan Kupala", "Fox Mykyta", "Annie, Get Your Gun", "Fanny", the opera "Carmen". Made decorations for the performances of the dance ensemble "Shumka", developed costume and mask projects for the performance "Fox Mykyta" by I. Franko, which was organized by Plast in Edmonton under the direction of V. Skorupsky.
Also, as a decorator, Dobrolige designed the interior of cafes and restaurants in Edmonton, a number of panels and paintings in various establishments.
Dobrolige's creative heritage includes posters of various Ukrainian events in Edmonton, including performances by the Shumka dance ensemble, as well as greeting cards depicting carolers with a star, Ukrainian landscapes on Christmas night. All of the artist's postcards are framed with Ukrainian ornaments and have a religious characterСвітло проти темряви: Різдвяні листівки української діаспори з 40-х по 70-ті.
==Exhibitions==
Wadym Dobrolige had two personal exhibitions in Vegreville, two exhibitions in Edmonton (1949, 1956). In 1949, 4 of his paintings were included in the traveling exhibition of the Alberta Ministry of Culture, as well as two paintings in the 1960 exhibition of Contemporary Canadian Art in Toronto.
The posthumous exhibition was organized in the Museum of History of Kyiv (1999), Nizhyn (1999) on the initiative of the artist's wife Valentina Dobrolige. Posthumous exhibitions were also organized in Edmonton, in particular on November 10, 1974 at the Ukrainian-Canadian Archives-Museum in Edmonton.
==Commemoration==
Taking into account the achievements in the field of religious art and not only, Dobrolige is considered a prominent member of the Ukrainian diaspora in Canada. In 1983, the Presidium of the Congress of Ukrainians of Canada awarded Dobrolige with the Shevchenko gold medal for the 10th anniversary of his death. The artist's achievements were noted in the sonnet "In Memory of Wadym Dobrolige" (The conquerors of the prairies. 1984) by Yar Slavutych. In 1985, an album containing reproductions and photographs of his most notable works was published in Edmonton.
After the artist's death, the Foundation named after Wadym Dobrolige was created, aimed to support those who study or popularize Ukrainian art, organizes exhibitions.
==Archive==
Wadym Dobrolige's works are kept in private collections and collections of museums and archives. In Ukraine, Dobrolige's paintings can be seen at the Museum of Cultural Heritage in Kyiv and the art department of the Nizhyn Museum of Local History. The virtual exhibition can be seen on the institution's websiteВіртуальна виставка робіт Вадима Доброліжа.. 
Thanks to a gift from Natalia Dobrolige, daughter of Wadym Dobrolige, the "Wadym Dobrolige Fonds" was created in the Bohdan Medwidsky Ukrainian Folklore Archive at the Kule Centre for Ukrainian and Canadian Folklore at the University of Alberta, Edmonton, CanadaWadym Dobrolige Fonds. Bohdan Medwidsky Ukrainian Folklore Archives. The collection consists of four series: Personal Documents, Photographs, Publications, Artworks and Sketches, and includes original works of art, sketches (religious, commercial, theatrical performances), personal papers, photographs, slides, newspapers and video with footage of Dobrolige's work. In the fonds there is a handwritten personal notebook and a prayer book. One of the most valuable and early documents of the German period is Dobrolige's identity card, dated March 22, 1941. The fonds also includes newspaper articles, programs of events that contain Dobrolige's works, articles about the life and work of Wadym and Valentyna Dobrolige. The fund contains hundreds of photographs of Wadym Dobrolige's works: icons, iconostasis, church paintings, costumes, ornaments, signs, interior decoration, showcases, portraits, paintings, still lifes, posters, etc. There is a photograph of the icon of the German period, which was created by Wadym Dobrolige in West Germany in 1946.
==Sources==
Wadym Dobrolige: Album. Edmonton, 1985
Відомі уродженці Чернігівщини: Вадим Доброліж.Вадим Доброліж: Альбом. Едмонтон, 1985.
Віртуальна виставка робіт Вадима Доброліжа.
Книга творчости українських мистців поза Батьківщиною. Філядельфія, 1981.
Самойленко Г.В. Вадим Доброліж – художник із Ніжина. Ніжинська старовина. 2007. Вип. 3(6). С. 130-135.
Самойленко Г.В. Доброліж Вадим Володимирович. Енциклопедія Сучасної України. К. : Інститут енциклопедичних досліджень НАН України, 2008. 
Самойленко Г. В., Самойленко С. Г. Образотворче мистецтво та скульптура в Ніжині в 17–20 ст. Ніжин, 1998.
Світло проти темряви: Різдвяні листівки української діаспори з 40-х по 70-ті.
Wadym Dobrolige Fonds. Bohdan Medwidsky Ukrainian Folklore Archives.
Category:1913 births
Category:Ukrainian Canadians
Category:Artists
Category:Painters
Category:1973 deaths