More than 60 galleries from all over the world presented the chef-d'oeuvres of the famous authors at the international art forum Art Monaco'12, which was held in the Principality of Monaco. Ukraine was represented by the Luhansk sculptor, King of Marble Nikolai Shmatko and his younger son Rafael. The master presented six works of sculpture and ten pictures, and Shmatko Jr. showed his marble work "Hush! Hush!". The exposition of the Luhansk master, which occupied 12 square meters, was the most notable one and had a great success with the visitors. The sculptures "Worship to the Sun Disc" with the start price of 5 million Euros, "The Luhan River" of 1 million Euros, and "School Years" of 100 thousand Euros had the particular interest. Such request gives the possibility to raise the importance of the Ukrainian art in the world area.
The only thing that Nikolai Shmatko did not do during his trip is to present one of his works to the Princess of Monaco Charlene. As a special gift to the princely family, a marble portrait – the bust of the Princess Charlene was made. The sculptor wanted to create the cultural connections between our lands by the means of his creative work. Unfortunately, the bust of the Princess returned to Luhansk, because the visit of the Prince Albert and the Princess Charlene was cancelled owing to the fail of the organizers of the exposition.
There is no doubt that the participation of Nikolai Shmatko in the exposition of such a high international level is of big importance for Luhansk in general. This is a new step towards the relationship and cooperation between the two countries in different spheres of life, including culture and art as the main directions!
Monaco (photos of Rafael Shmatko)
