Crocuses in Spring Painting

Vasily Sad is a key exponent of Ukrainian abstract art. Sad graduated from Odessa Grekov College of Arts in 1977 and joined the Odessa school of non-conformism which was active during the so-called Avant-Garde of the "˜second wave' in the 1960s-1980s. Discouraging any individual artistic pursuit, the Soviet art policy of the time resulted in the segregation of non-official art as opposed to Socialist Realism. Ukrainian non-conformists concentrated their attention on artistic issues, emphasising the importance of colour and light expressiveness. They had an intense ardour for national folk tradition and were preoccupied with the challenge of maintaining a national identity in the context of the Soviet Union Beginning his artistic career as an impressionist artist, Sad later moved to pure abstract, doggedly believing that it is only with abstraction that one can 'get through to the secrets of human existence and nature'. In the early 80s Vasily Sad joined the Odessa group of non-conformist artists called "˜Mamay', its name taken from Mamay Cossack - Ukrainian national hero. Artist took an active part in unofficial, so called "apartment exhibitions", but it was under Perestroika that he first gained wide-spread recognition.