Lucien Dulfan

LUCIEN DULFAN       ▪️ Master and Mage ▪️              Many collections and houses of Odessa contain paintings by Lucien Dulfan created in the 1960s and 80s, however, Odessa viewers can not often see works by the American artist. Dulfan, having immigrated to America in 1990, settled in New York and successfully continued his artistic practice. However, his rare works crossed the ocean, and Lucien was cut out of the context of Ukrainian contemporary art. The reasons for this oblivion lie not so much in the distance as in the artistic situation of the city for the last thirty years, when the name of the artist Lucien was squeezed out to the periphery of bohemian folklore.The last Odessa exhibition of the master was held in 1989 at the Museum of Western and Eastern Art. Eyewitnesses remembered this event as scandalous, starting with the opening day and ending with the comments of museum visitors in the review book. The viewer is not always ready to face the pulsating vital images of Lucien's works, his paintings often cause indignation. Nevertheless, before Lucien’s departure, the Odessa Museum of Art purchased two works by the artist, one of which is “The Kiss of Judah”, which is the central plot in the art of Dulfan, developed by the artist since the 70s and, certainly, inspired by the famous painting of the same name by Caravaggio from the collection of the Museum of Western and Eastern Art. “Kiss of Judas” Lucien is filled with universal images that are devoid of individual attributes, the characters are represented equal. Everyone can be the messiah and everyone can be a traitor, each medal has two sides - this is the artist’s reflection on human nature. Over time, the plot of “Kiss of Judah” is transformed into a series of “Kiss”, several of which are presented at the current exhibition in the Museum of Western and Eastern Art.Dulfan owns a special painting technique, which is distinguished by texture, layering, pastiness, but the paint layer from this excess of material does not become excessive and deaf. The master withstands technology, his painting acquires a “glow” from the inside, the paint layer flickers imperceptibly, like glare of light on a water surface. Attention to the relationship of shades of white in color speaks of the application of the picturesque principles of the teacher Lucien Dulfan at the Odessa Art School - Dina Frumina. Graduates of Frumina’s workshop are united by a special mastery of white color, which has become a recognizable feature in the art of Odessa nonconformists. The artist in pedagogical practice was a mediator between her teachers - Odessa modernists of the first third of the 20th century - Teofil Fraerman, Moses Mutselmacher and their students - artists of the generation of the 60s.Beauty, aesthetics, harmony in the works of Lucien, the magic of color relationships create a special metaphysical space of his canvases. The mythological nature of the themes and the depth of the images entail phantasmagoria. A special place in his art is occupied by the theme of the city, which appears to be an element capable of accepting and expelling an artist from his body, a city that needs obedience. The symbol of this city is the image of the monument to the founder of Odessa, Duke de Richelieu on Primorsky Boulevard. In a large urban series, Duke's figure is portrayed from the back and seems to have turned his back on the viewer. Dulfan deliberately uses this point of view, because it opens up the prospect of viewing the boundless light-air space in which the sea and sky are connected. This space appears as an allegory of freedom, to be in its field means to get out of the lack of freedom of the city.       Dulfan manages to achieve expansion of space not only with the help of the image of space. The reception characteristic of Theofil Fraerman in still lifes and "interiors" is close to Lucien - this is the image of "picture in picture", "image in image". Dulfan successfully applies this technique in the long-term series of "Windows",       which is presented at the current exhibition at the Museum of Western and Eastern Art. Its characteristic feature is the synthesis of landscape and still life, where landscape is the very light-air medium interspersed with objects that indicate the plane of the window. Still life is represented by the ratio of objects on the windowsill, which, like the space outside the window, form their own cosmos.The Lucien exhibition aims to expand the art field of Odessa, return the name of the classic to the history of Ukrainian art and present the audience with examples of a picturesque and aesthetic search.              Anna Aliyeva, art critic, curator.              Opening of the exhibition on November 14th at 18:00              The exhibition runs from November 14 to December 3, 2019 at the location of the Regtime Museum              The museum is open daily from 10:00 to 17:30 (a ticket for the exhibition can be purchased at the ticket office of the museum until 16:30)       Ticket: 40/25/30 UAH       ☎️ 724 - 67 - 47       ▪️       #WEart_museum #LucienDulfan #Regtime