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Vasyl Sokornov

Vasyl Nykandrovych Sokornov (27 February 1867 — 1946) was an outstanding Crimean photographer, landscape artist, author of the photo series "Views of Crimea" ("Vidy Kryma") and illustrator of the 1st volume of the fundamental work of Levko Symyrenko "Crimean Commercial Fruit Growing" ("Krymske promyslove plodivnytstvo").

Overview

Vasyl Sokornov was one of the first masters of artistic and landscape photography of the southern coast of Crimea, whose photographs preserved the pristine appearance of resort towns, mountain landscapes, and estates at the turn of the 19th–20th centuries. Having gained recognition and a gold medal at an exhibition in Paris for the retouching and coloring of a photographic portrait, Sokornov, due to tuberculosis, moved to Alushta, where he devoted his life to the photographic documentation of Crimean nature and architecture. A significant part of his works was distributed as postcards and in popular illustrated publications ("The Field" (Niva), "Sun of russia" (Solntse Rosii), "Open Letter" (Otkrytoe pismo)). A decisive role in preserving the name of the photographer was played by the pomologist Levko Symyrenko, who engaged his highly artistic landscapes to illustrate his scientific description of Crimean horticulture. The study of the biography and preserved legacy of Sokornov was undertaken by the Symyrenko scholar Petro Volvach.

Key Details / Subtopics

  • Biography and education:
  • Born 27 February 1867 in the village of Vasylivske, Shubsky district, Vladimir province.
  • Studied at the Lushnikivske school in Ostrohozky district, Voronezh province, where he showed an aptitude for painting.
  • Was a free auditor in the painting department of the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts (due to lack of funds for full-time study) and simultaneously worked as a retoucher in the renowned Pasetti photo studio.
  • Received a gold medal at the international exhibition in Paris for a highly artistic retouched and colored photographic portrait of a wealthy man's daughter.
  • Move to Crimea and photographic mastery in Alushta:
  • Due to the cold capital climate he fell ill with tuberculosis and, with the assistance of the Society for Assistance to Young Artists, moved to Alushta for treatment, where he lived with the widow Stakovska.
  • He tried to paint and sell studies of local landscapes, but later noticed a high demand for postcards with Crimean landscapes and equipped his own photo laboratory.
  • With the support of the periodical "Sun of russia" (Solntse Rosii), in 1902 he published the photo album "Views of Crimea" ("Vidy Kryma"), which gained popularity in the russian empire and European countries.
  • Undertook grueling foot expeditions with bulky photographic equipment along the Southern Coast of Crimea: the surroundings of Yalta, Alushta, Simeiz, Bakhchisarai, and Sevastopol.
  • Collaboration with Levko Symyrenko:
  • Sokornov's photographs were used by Levko Symyrenko to illustrate the 1st volume of the work "Crimean Commercial Fruit Growing" ("Krymske promyslove plodivnytstvo") (1912), where the author expressed his official gratitude to him.
  • Personally met Symyrenko at exhibitions in Simferopol, St. Petersburg, Paris, and during travels across Crimea.
  • Loss of legacy and final years:
  • In 1929 he was invited to the photo studio of Krymderzhvydav in Yalta (24 Masandra Street).
  • In 1931 he transferred 1,300 negatives of Crimean landscapes to Krymderzhvydav, which were later lost in the Soviet publishing labyrinth due to officials' lack of interest in landscape heritage.
  • On the eve of World War II he selected 25 of his best landscape negatives for transfer to the Academy of Painting in Leningrad, but the transfer was disrupted by the outbreak of war.
  • Died in 1946 at the age of 80, buried in the old cemetery in Alushta.
  • Museum collection:
  • In 1946 he donated part of his collection to the Alupka Museum, but in the post-war years about 30% of the works disappeared.
  • The Yalta Local History Museum preserves a collection of more than 70 original photographs by the master.
  • Guardian of Pristine Crimea (Khranitel pervozdannoho Krymu) — an article by Petro Volvach in the newspaper "Krymska Svitlytsia" (2017, no. 29) about the biography and creative legacy of Vasyl Sokornov.
  • Levko Symyrenko — a pomologist who used Sokornov's photographs in illustrating the work "Crimean Commercial Fruit Growing."
  • Petro Volvach — a Symyrenko scholar and researcher who revived the memory of the photographer.
  • Crimean Commercial Fruit Growing (book) — a fundamental monograph illustrated by Vasyl Sokornov.
  • Yalta — a city on the Southern Coast where the Krymderzhvydav photo studio operated and a collection of photographs is preserved in the local history museum.