Temple Mount in A. Kashshai's Venetian landscape

Creativity of the famous Transcarpathian artist A. Kashshai was widely covered in the Soviet art criticism; however the sources of his inspiration have never become the subjet of profound research. In particular, nothing has been said about the latent conflict between the academic tradition and the direct view of the Rusin-highlander, who perceives the space differently from a faltlander. The famous colorfulness of folk art in his works is not a mimetic imitation of nature, but the aspiration of a highlander to dissimilate the world of man and rather “dull” real landscape. Kashshai's picture “Venice. Canal Grande” (Cathedral of Santa Maria della Salute) violates the canon of the Venetian landscape (Canalletto, Guardi, etc.). It shows no customary bulks of the sea and sky, with a naturalistically drawn architectural ensemble between them. The focus is on the bulk of the Temple, the upper edge of which is cut off by the frame. We look at it from below, from the opposite bank of the canal. Perpendicular to the viewer there are boats overcoming water resistance and moving to the gates of the cathedral. The space looks cramped, which causes a sense of explosion, danger. The Temple acts as an ideological and emotional centre, achieved by overcoming the resistance of emphatically material water. The water and the sky separated by man, mirror each other's whitish blue for which the astist uses cobalt, which makes contours somewhat blurred. The postimpressionist dynamic composition is built on the contrast of misty blueness and the bright sun strike on the right building to create an expressive image of inner struggle. The vistitor from the highlands sees the plain-marinistic vast of Venice as lacking hills. According to M. Eliade, the Holy Mount is the centre of the world, the place where Heaven meets Earth. The glorified Cathedral stands for such a centralizing Mount for the Rusin-highlander, with his peculiar world perception.

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