Khmeliuk, Vasyl

Khmeliuk, Vasyl or Khmeluk, Vassyl [Хмелюк, Василь; Xmeljuk, Vasyl'], b 3 July 1903 in Berezivka, Zhmerynka county, Podilia gubernia, d 2 November 1986 in Paris. Postimpressionist painter and avant-garde poet. He completed his gymnasium education in Zhmerynka and served (in 1918–20) in the Army of the Ukrainian National Republic during Ukraine’s struggle for independence (1917–20). Interned in a Polish internment camp for Ukrainian soldiers in 1920, he later studied art at the Cracow Academy of Arts (1921–23) under Władysław Jarocki. Having moved to Prague in 1924, he continued his education at Charles University (1926–27) and at the Ukrainian Studio of Plastic Arts under Serhii Mako. In Prague he also self-published three collections of futurist-dadaist Ukrainian-language poems: Hin (Instinct, 1926), Osinnie sontse (The Autumn Sun, 1928), and 1926, 1928, 1923 (1928), but, discouraged by negative criticism, he abandoned his attempts to write poetry. In 1928 he settled in Paris, where his paintings attracted the attention of prominent collectors, such as Ambroise Vollard and Sergei Shchukin, and appeared at well-known galleries. His work met with praise by such established Parisian artists as Pablo Picasso and Amedeo Modigliani.

In the 1930s Khmeliuk’s paintings were exhibited also in England, Italy, and Switzerland (where the artist lived in 1939–43). He returned to Paris in 1943 and became associated with the Durand-Ruel Gallery, which organized exhibitions for him in Paris, New York, and other cities. At that time, Khmeliuk took an active part in the life of Ukrainian artists in Paris, fostering close relations with such painters as Oleksa Hryshchenko, Mykola Krychevsky, Mykhailo Andriienko-Nechytailo, Temistokl Vyrsta, and others. Khmeliuk’s works, done in strong contrasting colors, include paintings of flowers, still lifes, landscapes, and portraits. They can be found in museums in Paris, London, Stockholm, Lviv, and Lucerne, in the collection of Oxford University, and in many private collections.

Marko Robert Stech

[This article was updated in 2026.]