The Sower page 13, April 28, 2019

EXPLORING OUR MUSEUM AND LIBRARY The Art of the Pysanka By Lubow Wolynetz, Curator

input—namely certain rituals had its own style of combining which he himself said “is an and magical and protective tal- these elements upon the sur- addictive hobby”. His pysanky ismans. It was believed that the face of the egg with ingenious are distinguished by a high level egg as a symbol of life and the artistic style and admirable aes- of mastery. He used the tradi- sun when covered with specific thetic tastes. tional motifs, but arranged signs and dyed with different This unique form of art has them in a variety of innovative colors assumed magical power achieved global interest and compositions. His originality and became a protective talis- popularity and is practiced lay in the fact that as a doctor man. On these premises, the both within and beyond the he was able to use special tools Ukrainian pysanka was created. Ukrainian community. for creating his pysanky which With the onset of Christianity, Ukrainians of the Diaspora most people do not have. For many of the ancient traditions should be especially were incorporated into the credited for broad- Christian holidays. Thus the ening interest in pysanka became a part of the this art in America. Easter holiday. Today’s artisans in For centuries, creating their Ukrainian women steadfastly pysanky either copy adhered to the tradition of the traditional sam- making pysanky for the Easter ples of old, or try their hand at new compositions, but still incorporating the traditional motifs in a novel way and different color schemes. In our Museum and Library we have a huge collec- tion of traditional pysanky from vari- ous regions of Pysanky by Dr. Danylo Saraczynski, Ukraine, mostly Ukrainian Museum and Library of Stamford the work of Tanya Osadca, a pysanka scholar. She devot- ed her entire life to For Ukrainians, every holi- the study of this art day, religious and/or secular, is and then donated her collec- example, he used surgical nee- filled with numerous tradi- tion to our Museum. In addi- dles to write on eggs and this tions. We inherited them from tion to these, our Museum has produced extremely fine lines. antiquity, to which we partly or been fortunate to be the recip- To empty the inside of the egg fully adhere to the present, and ient of a collection of pysanky, he used a dental novocaine nee- which require extensive the work of Dr. Danylo dle and drew out the contents preparatory measures. Saraczynski. He produced with a syringe. He also used a Foremost, in advance of the quite remarkable and original magnifying glass for the excep- onset of the Easter Season, we compositions on chicken and tionally delicate designs. Christian beliefs associated begin our spiritual and religious holiday, and passed it on from goose eggs. Writing pysanky was Dr. preparations. Then, we take with the cult of the sun. In generation to generation. We Dr. Saraczynski was born in Saraczynski’s favorite pastime steps to ready the additional Ukraine, as in various other inherited from these anony- 1918, in the town of Melnytsia and he created them for his components of the holiday as regions of the world, the egg mous artisans this unique art Podilska in the Borshchiv own enjoyment. The collection was considered a prime source required by ancient Ukrainian form with thousands upon region of Ukraine. He studied of Dr. Saraczynski’s pysanky was tradition. Paramount among and symbol of life, the sun, and thousands of aesthetic compo- medicine in Lviv and in eventually donated to our these traditional elements is the universe. Ancient man sitions. These folk artisans, Switzerland. After WWII, he Museum by his wife Maria. the pysanka – the Ukrainian believed that various phenome- using just a few traditional emigrated to America and set- We indeed appreciate the non, such as the resurrec- Easter Egg. e.g., motifs, e.g., the star-sun motif, tled in Bridgeport, CT., where valuable collections of pysanky Although currently a part tion of nature in springtime, triangular forms, the endless he worked as a longtime sur- of Tanya Osadca and of Dr. of the Easter traditions, the the preservation of fertility, the linear motifs managed to pro- geon at Bridgeport Hospital. Danylo Saraczynski donated to pysanka actually originated as prosperity bringing about good duce a myriad of compositions. He died in 1994. His lifelong our Museum and Library for fortune, needed for man’s an important element of pre- Each region, even each village, passion was creating pysanky posterity. !

ПАЛОМНИЦТВО СТЕМФОРДСЬКОЇ ЄПАРХІЇ ДО РИМУ від 29 серпня до 3 вересня, 2019 р.б.

September 1, 2019 – Golden Jubilee Celebration of the Consecration of Saint Sophia Cathedral in Rome; Worldwide Pilgrimage led by Patriarch Sviatoslav and all the Hierarchs of the Ukrainian Catholic Church.

Stamford Eparchy Pilgrimage Tour of Rome – Aug. 29 – Sept. 3, 2019

For more information call either Dunwoodie Travel – 914-969-4200, [email protected] Monsignor John Terlecky – 203-962-2296, [email protected]

For more information about The Ukrainian Museum and Library of Stamford, please, visit www.ukrainianmuseumlibrary.org, call 203-324-0499 or 203-323-8866. The Museum is open Wednesday through Friday from 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., or by appointment, and is located at: 161 Glenbrook Road, Stamford, CT 06902.