04.09.2023

In the more than one hundred years since the publication of Fedir Shmidt's book, little has changed in Ukrainian art history. The work, first published in Kharkiv in March 1919, remains relevant and a must-have for those who are eager to master the theory of global visual culture and architecture.

The treatise outlines the concept of the formation of art in the scope of its ontological manifestations: from the morphology of the work's production to the sociology of its functioning and the subtleties of the psychology of perception.

The theory of the "progressive cyclical development of art" presented in the book is a theoretical reflection based on the facts of art history, not the history of artists. In the course of studying the five components of fine art (rhythm, form, movement, space, light), the author illustrates the nature and essence of artworks on the basis of six styles of painting (irrealism, idealism, naturalism, realism, illusionism, impressionism), and teaches how they should be perceived; if not perceived, how to treat them. The architectural forms of wooden churches of the Ukrainian Carpathians (mainly of the Boyko type) are analysed in a comparative and theoretical way.
Fedir Shmidt's treatise is interesting not only for an expert - the book explores what constitutes art, how a viewer (amateur, student) should behave when interacting with a work of visual art, and how an intelligent eye should be educated to contemplate art not only with an emotio but also with a ratio.

The book was published under the editorial supervision of Professor Kateryna Stanislavska (Kyiv National I.K. Karpenko-Kary University of Theatre, Cinema and Television).