Exhibition

The Space of Light and Hue: Watercolour

The Space of Light and Hue: Watercolour

The National Art Museum of the Republic of Belarus Main building

On June 28 at 17.00 the National Art Museum (20 Lenina St.) will host the grand opening a solo exhibition titled “The Space of Light and Hue: Watercolour” of Yaugen Sakovich, member of the Belarusian Union of Artists, Honoured Teacher of the Republic of Belarus, recipient of the Order of the Belarusian Orthodox Church of St. Cyril of Turau, recipient of the Order of Francysk Skaryna (born August 5, 1948).

The exhibition features more than 30 21st century works from the artist’s personal collection.

Possibly, within the Belarusian cultural sphere, Yaugen Sakovich is better known as an outstanding teacher who devoted half a century of his life to teaching at the famous Minsk State Gymnasium-College of Arts.

Today, the viewer has an excellent opportunity to get acquainted with the virtuoso watercolours of the master painter. Yaugen Sakovich is a man capable of teaching, performing management duties, and creating art with equal passion and energy. He believes the mission of an art teacher lies not only in transmitting theoretical knowledge, but also in setting an example for his students by creating art himself, developing his own skills.

The works on display are created in the alla prima watercolour technique and showcase Yaugen Sakovich’s originality and professionalism. The alla prima technique requires the artist to be able to keep in mind the tonal and colour architectonics of the entire composition, a steady hand, a trained eye, and an intuitive understanding of the essence of the process. After all, you have to paint the entire work in just one session, before the paints are completely dry. The watercolours presented at the exhibition showcase how masterfully Yaugen Sakovich uses the wet-on-wet technique, without needing any preliminary pencil linework.

The artist’s favorite genre is, without a doubt, landscape. The peculiarity of his creative approach is the desire to capture his state of mind at the moment of admiration of nature, as opposed to simply reflecting a specific motif.

Watercolour works by Yaugen Sakovich are sublimely self-sufficient. Soft, delicate colour transitions, transparency, purity – all this is characteristic of his body of work.

The exhibition will run until September, 9, 2024.

Curator: Natallia Sialitskaya, leading researcher at the Department of Belarusian Art of the 20th – 21st century.