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“I WILL ALWAYS PAINT” Iryna Sczuchewycz, at age 91, answered the question “do you still paint” with the words “I will always paint”. And so she did! She died two years later, at the age of 93. She kept painting as long as her hand could hold a paintbrush. She approached art as her life’s calling, not just as a hobby. She was born on November 21, 1885 in Vyshniw, region of Rohatyn into the Velychkowsky priest’s family. Iryna Velychkowska first studied art at the private school of Stanislaw Batowskyj, on a scholarship provided by the Metropolitan Andrey Sheptyckyj. Later she moved to Krakiw to study. In 1903 the Krakiw Academy of Art did not accept women but the School of Niedzielskyj, formed especially for women, was taught by the professors of the Academy. Iryna Velychkowska became one of the first women and the first Ukrainian woman to study art at a higher school. She became especially interested in portraiture. To gether with her cousin, Modest Sosenko, she painted churches in Ukraine. Her icons are found in Ukrainian churches in Ukraine, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Paris, in the U. S. in Rochester, Utica, Brooklyn, Glen Cove, in the collection of Patriarch Josef in Rome and in private collections. On February 20, 1913, Iryna Velychkowska married Paul Sczuchewycz, the Judge of Bucovyna. During WW I, Paul Sczuchewycz was an army judge in Vienna and later Budapest. Later he settled in Kolomyja. From 1921-1931 the couple settled in Vadovychi, then until 1942 in Krakiw. In 1942, Iryna and Paul Sczuchewycz, with their 2 daughters Daria and Lydia, moved to Lviw, and in 1944 had to emigrate to Munchen, Germany and in 1949 to the United States. Iryna Sczuchewycz was forced to leave behind over 300 works. Although Iryna Sczuchewycz often lived in foreign lands, she never lost contact with Ukrainians. She was a member of the Society of Painters in Krakiw, a member of the art societies USOM and ANUM in Lviw and OMUA in New York. She has taken part in exhibits in Krakiw, Lviw, Munchen and New York. Iryna Sczuchewycz was a member of Soyuz Ukrainok in Krakiw and later a member of UNWLA. Because of the illness of her husband and later her age, she could no longer be an active member. Artists and art critics have regarded her with respect and have praised her work. Mychajlo Moroz praised her icons and A. Maluca regarded one of her portraits as “the best protrait exhibited in the Art Club”. In 1979 in Notes on Art we read “in her paintings she was always true to the beauty of nature, in her portraits she put across the inner and outer value and the spiritual beauty of the Ukrainian individual”. (P. M.) Besides her natural artistic talents, Iryna Sczuchewycz approached art with enthusiasm and dedication. She was always testing new paths, forms and techniques. She loved books. When she immigrated to the United States, she brought priceless 19th century documents, books, newspaper clippings and announce ments, and a diary of WW I and WW II. She also had a priceless photograph collection, in which she, “Teta Oryssia” could name every individual. Iryna Sczuchewycz united the young generation of Ірина ИІухевич. Порт рет Л ід ії Ш ухевич-Ленцик. 1944 р. Олія Iryna Sczuchewycz. Portrait o f Lydia Sczuchewycz Lencyk. Oil. 1944. Ірина ИІухевич. Л іт ний день, Баварія. 1945 — 1946 pp. Темпера Iryna Sczuchewycz. Sum m er day in Bavaria. Tempera. 1945- 1946. today and the old traditions of the patriotic and religious Ukrainian family. She was always interested in her surroundings, could tell what was good and what was not. She was always true to her beliefs and to her calling. Her words “ I will always paint” one may consider her life's belief. T ra n s la ted by M . J a rym o w ycz
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