Tatiana Lysak-Polischuk (b. 1962) is a Ukrainian-born artist who studied at the St. Petersburg State Academic Institute of Fine Arts. She began exhibiting abroad in 1989 during her first trip to Europe, starting in Belgium. Since 2000, she has been living and working between Saint Petersburg and Paris.
Her paintings explore the boundaries between the finite and the infinite, the individual and the world, while narrowing the distance between subject and object. Tatiana’s approach is guided equally by feeling and thought: her compositions reveal an intuitive yet structured harmony, where form is shaped by both emotion and reason. By combining various techniques and working deeply with color and texture, she creates expressive, emotionally rich images that resonate on multiple levels.
Tatiana’s works are held in numerous private collections across Russia and Europe, as well as in public collections including the Museum of the Academy of Fine Arts in St. Petersburg and the National Museum “Kiev Art Gallery”.
She is a member of the Taylor Foundation (since 2015), the Association of Artists in Normandy (since 2017), the Union of Artists of St. Petersburg (since 1994), and a regular exhibitor at Art Capital in Paris (since 2011). She is also a member of the Association of Painters of the Marais and the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences.
Education:
1979–1983 – Jeleznogorsk Art School, Russia
1986–1993 – I.E. Repin Russian Academy of Fine Arts, Saint Petersburg, Russia
The diploma work is part of the collection of the Museum of the I.E. Repin Russian Academy of Fine Arts, Saint Petersburg.
1993–1995 – Postgraduate degree, Department of Painting, I.E. Repin Russian Academy of Fine Arts, Saint Petersburg, under the supervision of Professor A.A. Mylnikov
Memberships:
- Member of the Russian Artists’ Union since 1994
- Member of the Saint Petersburg Artists’ Union since 1994
- Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences since 2008
- Member of the Taylor Foundation since 2015
- Member of the Association of Artists in Normandy since 2017
- Member of the Marais Painters’ Association since 2018
Residencies:
1999, 2000, 2003, 2009, 2011 – Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris
Masterclasses:
- 2008 – Galerie Sensorium, Stavern, Norway
- 2009 – Galerie Berva, Kiev, Ukraine
- 2010 – “Tatiana’s Day,” masterclass as part of the Year of France in Russia, Union of Artists, Saint Petersburg, Russia
- 2018 – Masterclass in portrait painting, Palazzo di Cosimo Ridolfi, Florence, Italy
Artist at Work
Interview
1994 – Galerie L’Art du Temps, Durbuy, Belgium • 1995 – Russian Academy of Fine Arts, Saint Petersburg, Russia • 1996–2002 – Annual exhibitions in Antwerp: Pushkin Center, Galerie De Minte, Galerie De Kappelikke, Antwerp, Belgium • 1999 – Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris, France • 2000 – Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris, France • 2001–2011 – Annual Tatiana’s Day exhibition, Galerie Salon Bleu, Saint Petersburg, Russia • 2004 – Galerie Sensorium, Stavern, Norway • 2005 – Picnic, Galerie Sensorium, Stavern, Norway • 2005 – Ukrainian Culture Center, Moscow, Russia • 2007 – Hurrah! Summer in SPb, Art-Manege, Manege, Moscow, Russia • 2008 – Look!, Art-Manege, Manege, Moscow, Russia • 2008 – Vacation in Kyiv, Kyiv National Museum of Russian Art, Kyiv, Ukraine • 2009 – Tatiana’s Day, Galerie Salon Bleu, Saint Petersburg, Russia • 2009 – Paris Diary, Art-Manege, Manege, Moscow, Russia • 2011 – What Will the Sky Say?, Saint Petersburg Artists’ Union, Russia • 2012 – Tatiana’s Day, Saint Petersburg Artists’ Union, Russia • 2013 – Tatiana’s Day, Saint Petersburg Artists’ Union, Russia • 2013 – Tatiana, Arkadi Raikin Theater, Saint Petersburg, Russia • 2014 – Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris, France • 2015 – Sky. Woman. Mountain, I-Gallery Instant, Paris, France • 2015 – Tatiana Lysak-Polischuk, Stallen Rammer & Kunst, Sandefjord, Norway • 2017 – Oscar & Tatiana (with Oscar Rabine), Galerie De Buci, Paris, France • 2018 – Temptation of the West (with Oscar Rabine), Galerie Artbiblio, Paris, France • 2018 – On the Paths of Freedom (with Oscar Rabine), Espace Diamant, Ajaccio, Corsica • 2018 – Two Paths (with Oscar Rabine), Russian Academy of Florence, Florence, Italy • 2019 – Dog’s Life, Les Peintres du Marais, Paris, France • Master Class: 2008 – Galerie Sensorium, Stavern, Norway • Master Class: 2009 – Galerie Berva, Kyiv, Ukraine • Master Class: 2010 – Tatiana’s Day, master class during the Year of France in Russia, Saint Petersburg Artists’ Union, Russia • Master Class: 2018 – Master class in portrait painting, Palazzo di Cosimo Ridolfi, Florence, Italy • Group: 1991 – Annantalon Taidekeskus Cultural Center, Helsinki, Finland • Group: 1992 – Auction exhibition, Drouot, Paris, France • Group: 1994 – Stadhaus, Bad Homburg, Germany • Group: 1994 – Galerie Perspektive, Giessen, Germany • Group: 1994–2007 – Group exhibitions, Saint Petersburg Artists’ Union, Russia • Group: 1999–2001 – Moscow–Petersburg, Petersburg–Moscow exhibition project, Russia • Group: 1999, 2000 – International Art Salon, Artists’ House, Moscow, Russia • Group: 2001 – Moscow International Salon, Central House of Artists, Moscow, Russia • Group: 2001 – Exhibition at the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, Moscow, Russia • Group: 2003 – Yes! Saint Petersburg Painting, Merzenich, Germany • Group: 2004 – Ark, Manege, Saint Petersburg, Russia • Group: 2007 – Women of Russia, City History Museum, Saint Petersburg, Russia • Group: 2007 – In a Square (with Achot Kavarzian), Moscow Artists’ Union, Moscow, Russia • Group: 2007 – National Museum of Shanghai, Shanghai, China • Group: 2007 – Temperaments, Galerie Sensorium, Stavern, Norway • Group: 2009 – Münchener Künstlergenossenschaft, Munich, Germany • Group: 2011 – Art Capital, Drawing and Watercolor Salon, Grand Palais, Paris, France • Group: 2014 – ART Shopping Salon, Carrousel du Louvre, Paris, France • Group: 2014 – Singapore ART Fair, Singapore • Group: 2017 – Art Capital, Drawing and Watercolor Salon, Grand Palais, Paris, France • Group: 2017 – 1st Rambouillet Fine Arts Biennale, Salle Patenôtre, Rambouillet, France • Group: 2018 – Art Capital, Drawing and Watercolor Salon, Grand Palais, Paris, France • Group: 2018 – 91st Annual Normandy Artists’ Salon, Saint-Nicolas Church and Vieux-Saint-Sauveur, Caen, France • Group: 2018 – Attention! Children, Museum of 20th and 21st Century Saint Petersburg Art, Russia • Group: 2018 – Paris Autumn Salon, Expressionism Section, Paris, France • Group: 2018 – Karl Marx Forever, Russian Museum, Saint Petersburg, Russia • Group: 2019 – Drawing and Watercolor Salon, Grand Palais, Paris, France • Auctions: Featured in Brussels, Munich, and Paris •1994 – Galerie L’Art du Temps, Durbuy, Belgium • 1995 – Russian Academy of Fine Arts, Saint Petersburg, Russia • 1996–2002 – Annual exhibitions in Antwerp: Pushkin Center, Galerie De Minte, Galerie De Kappelikke, Antwerp, Belgium • 1999 – Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris, France • 2000 – Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris, France • 2001–2011 – Annual Tatiana’s Day exhibition, Galerie Salon Bleu, Saint Petersburg, Russia • 2004 – Galerie Sensorium, Stavern, Norway • 2005 – Picnic, Galerie Sensorium, Stavern, Norway • 2005 – Ukrainian Culture Center, Moscow, Russia • 2007 – Hurrah! Summer in SPb, Art-Manege, Manege, Moscow, Russia • 2008 – Look!, Art-Manege, Manege, Moscow, Russia • 2008 – Vacation in Kyiv, Kyiv National Museum of Russian Art, Kyiv, Ukraine • 2009 – Tatiana’s Day, Galerie Salon Bleu, Saint Petersburg, Russia • 2009 – Paris Diary, Art-Manege, Manege, Moscow, Russia • 2011 – What Will the Sky Say?, Saint Petersburg Artists’ Union, Russia • 2012 – Tatiana’s Day, Saint Petersburg Artists’ Union, Russia • 2013 – Tatiana’s Day, Saint Petersburg Artists’ Union, Russia • 2013 – Tatiana, Arkadi Raikin Theater, Saint Petersburg, Russia • 2014 – Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris, France • 2015 – Sky. Woman. Mountain, I-Gallery Instant, Paris, France • 2015 – Tatiana Lysak-Polischuk, Stallen Rammer & Kunst, Sandefjord, Norway • 2017 – Oscar & Tatiana (with Oscar Rabine), Galerie De Buci, Paris, France • 2018 – Temptation of the West (with Oscar Rabine), Galerie Artbiblio, Paris, France • 2018 – On the Paths of Freedom (with Oscar Rabine), Espace Diamant, Ajaccio, Corsica • 2018 – Two Paths (with Oscar Rabine), Russian Academy of Florence, Florence, Italy • 2019 – Dog’s Life, Les Peintres du Marais, Paris, France • Master Class: 2008 – Galerie Sensorium, Stavern, Norway • Master Class: 2009 – Galerie Berva, Kyiv, Ukraine • Master Class: 2010 – Tatiana’s Day, master class during the Year of France in Russia, Saint Petersburg Artists’ Union, Russia • Master Class: 2018 – Master class in portrait painting, Palazzo di Cosimo Ridolfi, Florence, Italy • Group: 1991 – Annantalon Taidekeskus Cultural Center, Helsinki, Finland • Group: 1992 – Auction exhibition, Drouot, Paris, France • Group: 1994 – Stadhaus, Bad Homburg, Germany • Group: 1994 – Galerie Perspektive, Giessen, Germany • Group: 1994–2007 – Group exhibitions, Saint Petersburg Artists’ Union, Russia • Group: 1999–2001 – Moscow–Petersburg, Petersburg–Moscow exhibition project, Russia • Group: 1999, 2000 – International Art Salon, Artists’ House, Moscow, Russia • Group: 2001 – Moscow International Salon, Central House of Artists, Moscow, Russia • Group: 2001 – Exhibition at the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, Moscow, Russia • Group: 2003 – Yes! Saint Petersburg Painting, Merzenich, Germany • Group: 2004 – Ark, Manege, Saint Petersburg, Russia • Group: 2007 – Women of Russia, City History Museum, Saint Petersburg, Russia • Group: 2007 – In a Square (with Achot Kavarzian), Moscow Artists’ Union, Moscow, Russia • Group: 2007 – National Museum of Shanghai, Shanghai, China • Group: 2007 – Temperaments, Galerie Sensorium, Stavern, Norway • Group: 2009 – Münchener Künstlergenossenschaft, Munich, Germany • Group: 2011 – Art Capital, Drawing and Watercolor Salon, Grand Palais, Paris, France • Group: 2014 – ART Shopping Salon, Carrousel du Louvre, Paris, France • Group: 2014 – Singapore ART Fair, Singapore • Group: 2017 – Art Capital, Drawing and Watercolor Salon, Grand Palais, Paris, France • Group: 2017 – 1st Rambouillet Fine Arts Biennale, Salle Patenôtre, Rambouillet, France • Group: 2018 – Art Capital, Drawing and Watercolor Salon, Grand Palais, Paris, France • Group: 2018 – 91st Annual Normandy Artists’ Salon, Saint-Nicolas Church and Vieux-Saint-Sauveur, Caen, France • Group: 2018 – Attention! Children, Museum of 20th and 21st Century Saint Petersburg Art, Russia • Group: 2018 – Paris Autumn Salon, Expressionism Section, Paris, France • Group: 2018 – Karl Marx Forever, Russian Museum, Saint Petersburg, Russia • Group: 2019 – Drawing and Watercolor Salon, Grand Palais, Paris, France • Auctions: Featured in Brussels, Munich, and Paris •1994 – Galerie L’Art du Temps, Durbuy, Belgium • 1995 – Russian Academy of Fine Arts, Saint Petersburg, Russia • 1996–2002 – Annual exhibitions in Antwerp: Pushkin Center, Galerie De Minte, Galerie De Kappelikke, Antwerp, Belgium • 1999 – Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris, France • 2000 – Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris, France • 2001–2011 – Annual Tatiana’s Day exhibition, Galerie Salon Bleu, Saint Petersburg, Russia • 2004 – Galerie Sensorium, Stavern, Norway • 2005 – Picnic, Galerie Sensorium, Stavern, Norway • 2005 – Ukrainian Culture Center, Moscow, Russia • 2007 – Hurrah! Summer in SPb, Art-Manege, Manege, Moscow, Russia • 2008 – Look!, Art-Manege, Manege, Moscow, Russia • 2008 – Vacation in Kyiv, Kyiv National Museum of Russian Art, Kyiv, Ukraine • 2009 – Tatiana’s Day, Galerie Salon Bleu, Saint Petersburg, Russia • 2009 – Paris Diary, Art-Manege, Manege, Moscow, Russia • 2011 – What Will the Sky Say?, Saint Petersburg Artists’ Union, Russia • 2012 – Tatiana’s Day, Saint Petersburg Artists’ Union, Russia • 2013 – Tatiana’s Day, Saint Petersburg Artists’ Union, Russia • 2013 – Tatiana, Arkadi Raikin Theater, Saint Petersburg, Russia • 2014 – Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris, France • 2015 – Sky. Woman. Mountain, I-Gallery Instant, Paris, France • 2015 – Tatiana Lysak-Polischuk, Stallen Rammer & Kunst, Sandefjord, Norway • 2017 – Oscar & Tatiana (with Oscar Rabine), Galerie De Buci, Paris, France • 2018 – Temptation of the West (with Oscar Rabine), Galerie Artbiblio, Paris, France • 2018 – On the Paths of Freedom (with Oscar Rabine), Espace Diamant, Ajaccio, Corsica • 2018 – Two Paths (with Oscar Rabine), Russian Academy of Florence, Florence, Italy • 2019 – Dog’s Life, Les Peintres du Marais, Paris, France • Master Class: 2008 – Galerie Sensorium, Stavern, Norway • Master Class: 2009 – Galerie Berva, Kyiv, Ukraine • Master Class: 2010 – Tatiana’s Day, master class during the Year of France in Russia, Saint Petersburg Artists’ Union, Russia • Master Class: 2018 – Master class in portrait painting, Palazzo di Cosimo Ridolfi, Florence, Italy • Group: 1991 – Annantalon Taidekeskus Cultural Center, Helsinki, Finland • Group: 1992 – Auction exhibition, Drouot, Paris, France • Group: 1994 – Stadhaus, Bad Homburg, Germany • Group: 1994 – Galerie Perspektive, Giessen, Germany • Group: 1994–2007 – Group exhibitions, Saint Petersburg Artists’ Union, Russia • Group: 1999–2001 – Moscow–Petersburg, Petersburg–Moscow exhibition project, Russia • Group: 1999, 2000 – International Art Salon, Artists’ House, Moscow, Russia • Group: 2001 – Moscow International Salon, Central House of Artists, Moscow, Russia • Group: 2001 – Exhibition at the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, Moscow, Russia • Group: 2003 – Yes! Saint Petersburg Painting, Merzenich, Germany • Group: 2004 – Ark, Manege, Saint Petersburg, Russia • Group: 2007 – Women of Russia, City History Museum, Saint Petersburg, Russia • Group: 2007 – In a Square (with Achot Kavarzian), Moscow Artists’ Union, Moscow, Russia • Group: 2007 – National Museum of Shanghai, Shanghai, China • Group: 2007 – Temperaments, Galerie Sensorium, Stavern, Norway • Group: 2009 – Münchener Künstlergenossenschaft, Munich, Germany • Group: 2011 – Art Capital, Drawing and Watercolor Salon, Grand Palais, Paris, France • Group: 2014 – ART Shopping Salon, Carrousel du Louvre, Paris, France • Group: 2014 – Singapore ART Fair, Singapore • Group: 2017 – Art Capital, Drawing and Watercolor Salon, Grand Palais, Paris, France • Group: 2017 – 1st Rambouillet Fine Arts Biennale, Salle Patenôtre, Rambouillet, France • Group: 2018 – Art Capital, Drawing and Watercolor Salon, Grand Palais, Paris, France • Group: 2018 – 91st Annual Normandy Artists’ Salon, Saint-Nicolas Church and Vieux-Saint-Sauveur, Caen, France • Group: 2018 – Attention! Children, Museum of 20th and 21st Century Saint Petersburg Art, Russia • Group: 2018 – Paris Autumn Salon, Expressionism Section, Paris, France • Group: 2018 – Karl Marx Forever, Russian Museum, Saint Petersburg, Russia • Group: 2019 – Drawing and Watercolor Salon, Grand Palais, Paris, France • Auctions: Featured in Brussels, Munich, and Paris •
Opinions
Mikhail GERMAN: The first professional steps of Tatyana Lysak-Polishchuk – the early nineties.
Like many of her peers, Tatyana Lysak-Polishchuk had to seek and forge her own individuality at the twilight not only of a century but of a millennium, when the artistic foundations of the recent past were crumbling, when the long-desired freedom brought more anxiety than joy, when the art business decisively displaced the tiresome but familiar ideology, and when the absence of prohibitions was often too eagerly interpreted as a disregard for quality. Amid the smoldering ruins of former idols, under the lingering echo of debates that had recently seemed topical, in the haze of presentations and vernissages—too numerous and noisy to be significant—on the icy winds of newfound liberty, becoming oneself was no simple task. Even harder was preserving, piece by piece, all that had been accumulated, the elements from which individuality is gradually shaped, without which a true artist simply does not exist. Tatyana Lysak-Polishchuk had, and still has, a significant advantage: a serious academic training, which she employs carefully but never slavishly. The old notion that creating something new requires a thorough understanding of old rules remains profoundly relevant in an era when the passion for change so often outpaces the ability to achieve it. A student of Andrey Andreevich Mylnikov, a commanding master who could overpower the individuality of budding artists, Tatyana managed to take from her mentor’s studio perhaps the best qualities: a keen attention to color and tonal values, a respect for artistry, and an open affinity for the allure and active aestheticism of a painting. And, finally, a certain theatricality and imagination. There were also studies in Paris at the Cité des Arts. To all this, the young artist added her own penchant for the carnival, for play, for the portrait often described as “travesty” (a costumed portrait, a masked portrait). Yet she retained a commitment to the simplest, most fundamental genres of painting: landscape, portrait, still life. She does not create “thematic” paintings; narratives do not interest her. If she has subjects at all, they serve as purely artistic intrigues, more like motifs than recountable events. Indeed, Tatyana Lysak-Polishchuk rarely “composes” paintings, but she is far from being a mere servant of nature, as it might seem. She views the world through the prism of her own imagination, its lens faintly coated with the amalgam of past artistic associations. It must be said: our visual memory today is oversaturated not so much with images of reality as with images of art. The connoisseur, the professional, the casual viewer—all possess, to varying degrees, what André Maurois called over half a century ago the “Imaginary Museum,” and Hermann Hesse even earlier termed the “Picture Gallery of the Soul.” Between the objective world and our perception lies a vast array of artistic interpretations. And art itself has become an inseparable part of the “objective world.” This is the reality, whether we like it or not. For Tatyana Lysak-Polishchuk, an undeniable part of this “objective world” is the era commonly referred to as “modernism” and the art of that period. This is not merely about the artist’s fondness for the slight angularity of lines sharply outlining elongated figures, or for a seemingly weary coloristic harmony. Rather, it could be said that Tatyana strives to infuse the stylistics of modernism not only into her brushwork but, more fundamentally, into the very way she perceives the subjects of her future canvases. She not only imagines them but sometimes invents them. It may seem that the artist paints not just the person before her but a character born between reality and her imagination. This invented character, on one hand, sharpens the traits of the real person, and on the other, enters the painting as if from another world, forming a unified, synthetic image. Tatyana Lysak-Polishchuk’s portraits always seem to wear a half-mask, behind which true features are discernible yet remain concealed. Sometimes this is aided by costume—either overtly masquerade-like or subtly stylized—or by the setting. But the true successes are, of course, the portraits where all this is dissolved into the very substance of the painting, in the texture, the relief of the brushstroke, where the atmosphere of bygone times is realized in rhythms, color harmonies, and the interplay of shapes and masses. Indeed, open stylization can hardly be held against an artist today if they keenly and precisely sense the material, the bygone era, and its tastes, and if they consciously speak in a language that is, in part, even archaic. By immersing her characters in the artistic plasma of a century past, endowing not only people but also objects with traits of nearly forgotten years, Tatyana observes with playful cunning how they—people and things—behave in the contemporary world of her canvases, what dialogue emerges between the past and the present: for it is today’s viewer who gazes upon them. Tatyana Lysak-Polishchuk’s world is openly spectral, theatrical: here, as Hamlet said, “The play’s the thing, wherein I’ll catch the conscience of the king.” Our artist is far from Shakespearean passions, but indeed, in her playful compositions, there is a hint of unease, and in her melancholic ones, a smile. However, her art does not always shimmer with the deceptive lights of a masquerade. Her still lifes are unexpected examples of a stern and direct dialogue with nature; her painterly manner gains temperament, colors are applied thickly, forming a dense, energetic, sometimes pastose mass. The light, dancing brushstroke gives way to the austere harmony of broadly painted planes, with objects seemingly welded into the canvas. The same can be said of her landscapes. Tatyana, as mentioned, worked in Paris, a city she came to understand as an artist, absorbing the charm of its ancient and bold artistic traditions. Perhaps from there stems the strict poetry of her landscapes—clear and contemplative, though occasionally bursting into coloristic exultation. In the contrast between carnivalesque motifs and simple still lifes, I see no fundamental contradictions or inconsistency. These are simply different directions of exploration, perhaps not yet synthesized. But it is precisely in this field of tension—between the spectral, nostalgic allure of the imagined and the clear simplicity of the real—that Tatyana Alexandrovna Lysak-Polishchuk lives and works with great seriousness. She labors in search of herself.
Yuri MUDROV
The artist works in all traditional genres of painting: she is passionate about portraiture, creates still lifes and landscapes—but her work contains one theme that defies genre classification. These are fantastical images, timeless and unbound by specific situations, in which her feminine essence is expressed with exhaustive fullness. The artist possesses a remarkable vision of the world, able to find a joyful spark in ordinary life phenomena. Tatyana Lysak-Polishchuk’s models are always benevolent, open to the viewer. They captivate with their sensuality, intuitiveness, refinement of form, and a unique state of being, balancing on the edge of dream and reality. Tatyana Lysak-Polishchuk is an artist in constant search. She does not limit herself to a single genre and strives to enrich each one—be it portrait, still life, or landscape—with deeper meaning and new forms. Always in a state of creative experimentation, each time she achieves success or recognition, she does not pause but continues to seek new modes of artistic expression. Tatyana Lysak-Polishchuk creates her own world of images, which undoubtedly resonates with her inner emotional state. The artist’s works invariably evoke a warm feeling, because that is who Tatyana herself is.