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3 T he life and career of Zhuk covered the period of greatest upheaval in the nascent, post-Revolution Ukraine, her subsequent shift into USSR occupation. A painter, book illustrator, graphic artist, and ceramic de¬signer, Zhuk left behind an impressive gallery of portraits of contemporary cultural figures, revered today by Ukrainians, such as Ivan Franko, Lesya Ukrainka, Heorhiy Narbut and others. Part of the committee that organized the Academy of Fine Arts in Kyiv, Zhuk embodied Ukrainian Art Nouveau with an international flavour. His vase designs are Parisian in spirit and his portrait of an unknown combines Ukrainian iconography with a more Soviet approach to portraiture. Zhuk studied in Murashko's school of drawing in Kyiv from 1896 before moving to the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture in 1899. This was followed by a period of study at the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow between 1900 and 1904. Whilst at the Academy, Zhuk developed an enthusiasm for folk ornament, examples of which could be seen in his art of the 1910's and 1920's which harmoniously combines the traditions of the European School with the ornamentation of Ukrainian folk painting. Very much a Ukrainian artist in theme, Zhuk designed a modern Ukrainian type¬face first used as the cover of the guidebook of the Old Odessa Architectural Museum, a city to which the artist had moved in 1925, when Zhuk became Head of Graphics at the Odessa Art Institute. It was here that he began work on ceramic design, moving into book design in the late 1920's. His 'Sasha and Yasha' series, unusual for being a full set, are fine examples of the genre.