Story 2: Room No. 49

During his years in Kharkiv, Vitalii Kulikov worked in two studios. The first, located on Nimetskyi Descent (formerly Pushkinskyi), was passed on to him by the artist Oleksii Borysov. The second, on Kultury Street, became the master’s final refuge — the place where he created his last works.

Yet it is the first studio that has preserved almost entirely its distinctively “Kulikov” atmosphere. In Room No. 49, just as during the artist’s lifetime, piles of papers and books lie scattered, vinyl records are carefully stacked, easels and stretchers lean against the walls, and among sheets of paper and rolled canvases reign brushes and dried flowers.

Vitalii Kulikov was a nocturnal artist — he preferred to work at night. At those hours, the long, emptied corridor between the studios would fill with a faint echo of either jazz or classical music, inseparable companions of his creative process. He rarely welcomed visitors; he disliked anyone seeing his unfinished works. When guests did come, he concealed works in progress behind a special curtain.

So if someone knocked on Kulikov’s door late at night, he would open it only just enough to pass cigarettes, tea, or dishes requested by fellow artists. Along with the narrow beam of light, clear strains of music would escape through the crack in the door. More often than not, it was Schnittke.

About Vitalii Kulikov’s Personality and Art — in the next story.