Kiss

Sophia Levytska is a Ukrainian artist who worked in Paris. She made her debut at the Paris Independent Salon and the Autumn Salon where she received the critical acclaim. In 1921, together with the poet Roger Allard, Levytska translated into French Mykola Hohol's Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka and illustrated the book with woodcutting. She worked on the design of the French periodicals Revue Musical, the Trésor de la bibliothèque, made woodcuttings for Jean de Juanville's History of Saint Louis, cooperated with Henri Matisse for Montjoie, and illustrated Apollinaire's poetry for the Paris literary and artistic magazine L-ELAN. Kiss is one of the most famous Levytskaya's graphic works. The author used the illusion of a double image: depending on the interpretation, the face in the foreground may belong to either man or woman. The work demonstrates a peculiar feature of Levytska's manner: the final form is attained, combined with ornamentation.