Leontiy Sergeevich Pidgayko - оne of the most notable Novomoskovsk artists.

One of the most notable Novomoskovsk artists (and there are about a hundred of them in our region) - Leontiy Sergeevich Pidgayko was born in 1928 in the village of Popasny. The grandfather and mother of the future painter worked for the landowner V. Rodzianko. My father was a member of the insurgent movement in Prysamarya, he went with instructions to Nestor Makhno. Leontiy Pidhaiko finished seven classes in his native village. Then the family moved to Novomoskovsk, where the young man entered a school that trained workers for a tin-rolling plant. After graduating from school, Leontiy worked at the plant as a roller. He gave the company 45 years of life. Note, dear readers, what I am talking about the artist ... It so happened that a person gifted with artistic talent was forced to engage in hard physical labor. This was the twentieth century in Ukraine: empires needed the labor of hard-working Ukrainians, not their natural talents. The best years of her life she worked for free in the camps of political prisoners - the genius poet Vasyl Stus, the unique artist Kateryna Bilokur was forced to cultivate the land. The artist’s talent awoke in Leontius’ soul very early. At the age of four, a peasant child cut out paper and glued steam locomotives and wagons. At the age of five, little Levko was already painting with watercolors. A teacher of geography, who lived next door, gave the young artist albums of reproductions of famous painters. Leontius studied them for hours, trying to understand the secrets of the works of great masters. He studied willingly and, of course, dreamed of becoming an artist, because he understood that God’s work must be worked out. The art school was close - in Dnepropetrovsk ... But he did not even try to enter there. The father is disabled, the mother is a housewife, and the children are three. I had to help my parents. Leontius used to think first of his relatives. He studied his sister, who became a doctor. He took care of his parents and then helped his children get back on their feet. It was a great happiness that he met a girl who saw his knack * for painting and supported him in his creative pursuits. Emma Mykolayivna is not only the artist’s wife, but also his good muse, honest critic, lawyer and impresario ... For many years only she believed in his lucky star, that Levko’s work would be properly appreciated. Stubborn and invincible desire to draw, love of nature, fanatical devotion to a favorite cause; is a miracle - a factory worker became; artist. HIS: a collection of about three thousand paintings: landscapes of Prysamarya, still lifes, portraits. Leontiy Serhiyovych graduated from N. Krupskaya full-time People’s University. He made thousands of drawings, sketches and sketches during his studies. He worked to ruthlessly destroy how school notebooks are being destroyed ... For years he mastered the art of mixing paints, creating a composition, and conveying the mood of a work. “My teacher is Nature, ”the artist admits. Among the most popular painters: Levitan, Dnepropetrovsk masters - Kokin, Gorbachenko, Chernyavsky, Magro. He is especially fascinated by the work of Mykola Glushchenko. Hundreds of works by Leontiy Pidhaik were exported. His works are stored in the collections of Russia, France, Canada, USA, Poland, Germany, Sweden. Entire galleries have reached Cyprus and Lebanon. The artist still works a lot and fruitfully. His personal exhibition will soon open in our museum, which will feature about forty of his landscapes and still lifes. We wish our talented compatriot high inspiration and long life. N. Tubaltseva, director of the museum of history and local lore. Peter Kalnyshevsky. To the attention of collectors: unique paintings by the Ukrainian master Leonty Sergeevich Pidgayko can be purchased in the form of NFT.