Ludmila Shekhurina
Saint Petersburg State University of Culture and Arts, Russia
Western European architecture occupied an important place in graphic works of G. K. Lukomski (1884–1952) both of the pre-revolutionary period and of the period of emigration.
The artist often traveled to Europe capturing in his drawings and watercolors ancient monuments of Kiev, Warsaw, Prague, Krakow, Cologne, Paris, Rome, Venice, etc. His interest in architectural antiquities combined the study of architectural forms with a relentless desire to render them in his pictures.
From February 1934 to July 1935 in London and Paris a series of exhibitions of G. Lukomsky was arranged. Being an impressive array of depictions of ancient European synagogues it was surprising in its novelty. Exhibitions were held in a number of galleries: Leicester Gallery, The Royal Institute of British Architects, The Wildenstein Gallery, The Batsford Callery University Colledge (under the auspices of the Jewish historical society).
The exhibition was a huge success and was widely discussed in the press. The artist’s interest in architecture of synagogues was rooted in his childhood spent in the Ukraine. Then he was struck with originality of an old Jewish synagogue which he often recalled. Later, at the exhibition of “The World of Art” in St. Petersburg (1917) he represented 8 drawings depicting Ukrainian synagogues. Obsessed with the search for ancient architectural forms, Lukomski decided to go “in a thick Eastern European, Polish-Russian Jewry”.
Going into poor parts of Volhynia, Galicia, Polissia, the artist examined 144 synagogues and was delighted with their originality. In his opinion, the charm of this art lies in its “directness, naive archaism”.
Strikingly, the frescoes of the old Polish-Russian synagogues, examined and sketched by G. K. Lukomski, the nature and type of utensil, murals and scenery were a genuine response to frescoes and decorations of the third-century Jewish synagogue.
The success of his London exhibition was a serious and well-deserved award. The collection of his works was purchased by a group of major Jewish philanthropists with the further intention to give it to the Palestinian Museum.