Maria E. Kotliarevska

Cossack Mamai

«Cossack Mamai», pencil on paper, 20 × 25 cm.

In this drawing by Marija Kotliarevska, Cossack Mamai appears as a symbolic and legendary image of the Ukrainian Cossacks, embodying the spirit of freedom and folk wisdom. In an essential, almost iconic style, the artist depicts him in the traditional pose familiar from celebrated folk images: seated cross-legged in meditation, a position often interpreted as an allusion to the lotus pose. Despite the simplicity and economy of the line, the large, monumental profile, constructed through a bold contrast of black and white, conveys the essence of the subject: a Cossack seen as a defender of the people and a wise philosopher, the guardian of the mysteries of existence.

The drawing is signed with the artist's monogram «MK» on the right-hand side.

Marija Evhenivna Kotliarevska (1902-1984) was a Ukrainian graphic artist of the Soviet era and one of the earliest masters of linocut in Ukraine. Born in Horlivka, she graduated from the Kharkiv Art Institute in 1929. From 1939 she was a member of the Union of Artists of Ukraine and worked in easel graphics and book illustration, producing more than fifty illustrations for works by Pushkin, Shevchenko and Heine during the 1930s. In 1946 she fell victim to Soviet repression and spent six years in prison. Following her rehabilitation, she resumed her artistic career, and solo exhibitions of her work were held in Dnipropetrovs'k in 1962, 1977 and 1982.