Cossack Mamai

Mediums: oil, canvas.
Location: Bashkir State Art Museum named after M. Nesterov. (Russia).

The author created this painting twice (the first version of 1908 painted on burlap is in the collection of Mary Burliuk). The artist repeatedly emphasized that he was from a Cossack family (a quarter, however). The hero of national Ukrainian legends and songs dominates the recognizable landscape with a white house; he is even bigger than his horse prancing nearby. The painting has not only external attributes of this particular tribe of people – a cradle, a domra, a bottle-necked vodka, as well as harem pants, jupanas and a “horse-drawn” hairstyle – but also the free spirit of the Cossack. The author conveyed the emotion with a bold brushstroke, pasty painting and juicy contrasting colours.