Anton Yakutovych was a Magical Realism artist who explored the allure of Parisian life and culture, embracing the spirit of the flâneur and elaborating on the visual languages of the Pre-Raphaelites, Neoclassicism, Art Nouveau and the Gothic Medieval art
Anton Yakutovych was born in Kyiv, Ukraine, in 1975, where he studied at Shevchenko Art School until 1993 followed by the National Academy of Art and Architecture. In 2002, the artist has moved to Paris – a city he had a lifelong fascination with. Yakutovych was a Magical Realism painter who has participated in numerous shows across the world – in France, Switzerland, Spain, UK, Russia, Macedonia, Ukraine and Poland. Within the framework of Yakutovych’s oeuvre, the city of Paris is both the decadent Paris of hedonists and thrill seekers and the dreamy Paris of uncorrupted hopeless romantics – of the enchanted and the starry-eyed. Interestingly, the artist’s work stylistically echoes the Revivalist scheme that was prevalent among the Parisian bourgeoisie.⠀
Anton was deeply in love with France and, embracing the spirit of the flâneur, the artist mostly depicted Parisian life and culture – in his very own meticulous, soulful, exalted and enigmatic way. The artworks are imbued with peculiar sensuality and excitement, they elaborate on the visual language of the Pre-Raphaelites, Neoclassicism, Art Nouveau and the Gothic Medieval art.
Yakutovych’s revealed stories and atmospheric scenes, born out of observation, dreams and personal preoccupations, are mirages that are as delicate as reflections we catch while looking into windows, crystal wine goblets, puddles and glass balls. The visions weave a tapestry of tradition and individual narrative, introducing a sort of an augmented parallel reality in the multiverse.
The divulged episodes, existing somewhere between the physical, realm and that of magic, have a prominent aura of intimacy and secrecy as if the viewer is offered a glimpse of what is usually hidden from the conventional gaze or the public eye. Yakutovych’s scenes are magic-circumstantial; his images are certain trophies composed of precious fragments gathered together: impressions, recollections, lyric invocations, remnants, discoveries, reverberations…Despite this preoccupation with details, the compositions appear undirected and coincidental.
The paintings feature spirited brushstrokes, a variation of the mysterious sfumato technique and intertwining of translucency, luminescence and opacity. They reignite our deep-seated longing for the canonical beauty and at the same time nudge back to the curiosity, spontaneity and joy of childhood. Yakutovych handled his subject matter in the same way as a child observes the moon with a telescope – inquisitively, but with admiration and reverence.
The artist interlaced two-dimensionality with three-dimensionality, cautiously played with proportion, dislocation, integration and space-time continuum, abandoning paradigms. Through these techniques he subtly defied the traditional anatomy of physical reality, providing a refocus and contemplation of novel potential.
Anton Yakutovych has passed away prematurely at the age of 39 on the 31st of January 2014. The artist will be sorely missed by those who had the privilege to know him. Anton Yakutovych will always be remembered for his immense talent, pure heart, unconquerable love for life and a childlike sense of wonder.
