17x17x14 cm, Terracotta
A gift of Oleksandr Mykhaliuk and Raisa Maievska
Contemporaries referred to P. Kapshuchenko as a “humanly sensitive artist.” The master’s creativity inspired by people allowed him to highlight various plots. The characters are not static and pathetic, but they are ordinary people with their everyday lives and emotions. In the work “Na Vidpochynku,” the artist emotionally relaxes with his character. The figure of an elderly man sitting on a bench on a sunny day creates a positive, even lyrical mood. The image of a city dweller in the park, whom Kapshuchenko had the opportunity to observe in both Buenos Aires and Philadelphia. The sculptor depicted ordinary people as if he knew them personally, as if he was taking their photos as a souvenir – he captured them in everyday situations, which resulted in original and sometimes unexpected scenes: a man sitting on a bench and a bird perched next to him. The artist played with form and skillfully integrated all the details into a unified compositional structure of the work. So, the viewer’s gaze perceives the overall composition of the man and the bird due to the character’s inclined posture, which balances the sculpture’s form.