From Azov to the Carpathians
The personal exhibition of works by artist Vasyl Korenchuk "From Azov to the Carpathians" became the voice of art as a force capable of preserving memory and inspiring.
The exhibition contains over 30 paintings reflecting different periods and themes of the Mariupol artist's work: landscapes of his native Podillia, warm views of Lviv, which became his new home after a full-scale war, and images of Mariupol, full of pain and memory. A separate part of the exhibition consists of portraits of Ukrainian soldiers, created with special respect and gratitude to the defenders.
The exhibition opened on August 25, 2025 in Lviv on the Mariupol Reborn platform. The exhibition lasted for a month. It is symbolic that on the opening day the artist celebrated his 75th anniversary.
Vasyl Mykhailovych Korenchuk is a painter, graphic artist, member of the Mariupol organization of the National Union of Ukrainian Artists since 2006. He was born on August 25, 1950 in the village of Dzhurdzhivka, Novoushytskyi district, Khmelnytskyi region (Ukraine). He graduated from the University of Designers (1978). Teachers in the specialty: P. Kot, A. Bezbatko. He works in the field of easel painting and graphics. Author of landscapes and still lifes. Participant of city, regional, all-Ukrainian and international exhibitions. He held about 50 personal exhibitions. Among the works: "Malofontanna Street" (1998), "Autumn Motive" (2003), "Evening on the Kalmius River" (2011), "Podilsky Evening" (2012), and others. The artist's works are in museums of Ukraine and in private collections.
Artist Vasyl Korenchuk is known to Mariupol residents as an energetic person and a talented landscape painter who delighted art lovers with new paintings almost every year. His works, permeated with love for Ukraine and its nature, are striking in their openness.
On February 25, 2022, the presentation of the artist's personal exhibition was expected at the Mariupol Art Museum named after A.I. Kuindzhi. Posters had already been prepared, guests and the press had been invited. But the opening did not take place. A terrible war prevented it.
On the morning of February 24, Vasyl Mikhailovich helped museum workers hide paintings by Kuindzhi, Aivazovsky, Dubovsky, and Kalmykov in a shelter. They hoped that this would preserve the masterpieces. But in April it became known that the enemy had cynically stolen them and transported them to Donetsk, to the so-called DPR. They could not hide the paintings by Vasyl Mikhailovich himself. The art museum did not have a storage facility. They remained in the exhibition halls. And, unfortunately, they were also partially stolen by the occupiers. In the video that appeared on social networks, you could see how employees of the Donetsk Museum of Local Lore take some of them for storage. The fate of the artist's other works is currently unknown.
The exhibition "From Azov to the Carpathians" has become a kind of bridge between the past and the present, between the destroyed Mariupol and the cities that now provide shelter to its inhabitants. It is a space not only for getting acquainted with the artist's work, but also for understanding how art helps to survive loss, restore identity, and strengthen community.
As part of the exhibition, the Mariupol Museum, in partnership with the creative team "City of Mary", released a printed catalog of Vasyl Korenchuk's artworks of the same name. The catalog of the artist's creative output showcases works that reflect both the lost Mariupol and its cultural heritage, as well as new works born on the Carpathian land. This is an artistic bridge between Azov and the Carpathians, between loss and hope.
