About Mykola Samoilenko

Nikolai Samoilenko – an artist, was born in October,12, 1961 in Chernivtsi, Ukraine. Professional education was received in the Art School of Chernivtsi (1975 – 1978) and at the Simon Okstein Artistic Studio by ( 1978 – 1982). Nikolai had a probation period at the Mars Gallery in Moscow (1983-1984) where his pictures have been exhibited until recently. He participated in many exhibitions in Chernivtsi, Kiev, Moscow. Nikolai’s works are in many private collections in Ukraine, Russia, Czechia, Germany, France, Israel, USA, Canada. Nikolai Samoilenko was born and raized in Chernivtsi, a beautiful town in a picturesque south-west region of Ukraine named Bukovina. The rich history of his birth-place was the ground on which his artistic gift started growing. The ancient slavic roots of Chernivtsi interwined with culture of Austria and Romania. Ukrainian traditions combined with Jewish, Russian, Romanian, German, Polish elements of culture and art. All this influenced Nikolai’s perception of life, his style and taste. But having adopted various artistic approaches, Niikolai’s creative work is not a mixture of them, it is not eclectic at all. It testifies to the artist’s taste, intelligence, integrity, self-sufficiency thus characterizing his style. It is worth mentioning that Nikolai comes from a very creative family. His father was a professional artist and his mother was a gifted embroiderer. So the atmosphere of his childhood and youth added a special colour to his emotions, bright and voluminous. Nikolai was also lucky in teachers of painting, drawing, composition, among whom were world-known Simon Okstein and Bronislav Tutelman. They taught him technique as well as secrets of art. Now Nikolai Samoilenko is a mature artist. He continues to experiment with methods and techniques of painting and achieves bright images which are immediate and spontaneous. A lot of various elements both in composition and in presentation have also entered his work, bringing new subtleties of colour, light, touch. The artist assembles shapes and colours onto his pictures, calling forth a feeling of suspended, not frozen, movement. His paintings – portraits, still-lives, landscapes produce the impression of real life, though they are not realistic in the very meaning of this word. They are alive due to the colours through which Nikolai conveys his feelings and thoughts. Colour is the soul of the artist’s works. It is unusually penetrating and, possessing a kind of magic power, it gives energy to people and takes them to the world of harmony and beauty. This world is presented by the artist in a unique way – dynamic and lyrical, philosophic and sympathetic. So, the basis for success in Nikolai Samoilenko’s creative work serve the riches of his heart and mind, his experience and freshness of life perception.