Katerina Stupakova, Art historian

Panas Tytenko has mastered a variety of genres of painting. However, the main distinguishing feature underlining all his works is his love of life. The viewer is drawn towards the artist's portraits. The artist uses a range of fluid painting techniques and is capably looking for colours in order to convey one's emotional state, articulate his impression of the perceived, capture the never-to-happen-again uniqueness of the moment and to fill the canvas space with uplifting impressions.

The lessons of utilizing colour in portrait compositions, brilliantly mastered by the gifted artist and enriched by his experience, help him not only to portray women ("Oxana in Pink", "Oxana in an Armchair", "Wife's Portrait"), but also to fill the canvas with joyful variations of colour and the harmony of the day's light and shadows. The artist is endowed with the gift of still life painting. "Still Life with Chrysanthemums", "Sunflowers", "Lilac from a Night in May" are examples of his skilful use of colour, the heritage of impressionist traditions. Certain colours are optically blending into a spot, and as early as in the process of visual perception, the viewer is charmed by their inner freedom and spontaneous dynamics.

The temperamental, impulsive texture of his strokes forms a quivering rhythmical canvas surface which reinforces the powerful depth of the canvas. Still-life works of Panas impress the onlooker with their exquisite simplicity. The onlooker derives a real pleasure watching the playing shades of spring and summer colours and the swirls and ripples on the water. His landscapes of native Ukraine, such as "Quiet Evening", "Afternoon", "Summer", "Autumn", "Silence of Autumn", "Trees Covered in Snow" show the real power of the art of colour - the source of emotions, the way to express one's feelings and state of mind. His landscapes represent the praised reality of the images, for the creation of which the natural light serves as the necessary stimuli and the unlimited source of inspiration. The artist is meticulously studying the legacy of the world of art. However, its positive impact does not affect the originality of the artist and his search for the unexplored. The landscape works of the artist are truly diverse and include his impressions of "Midnight Venice", "Bruges in Spring", "Evening in Amsterdam", "Regent Canal", "Boats on Regent Canal" as well as picturesque spots in Ukraine such as "Vilkovsky Motives", "Midday", etc.

In his works the artist states the principle of esthetic vision of reality and assists the new generation of artists to understand the ideals of the art of realism. The artist is duly continuing the traditions of the Kyiv school of art, in particular, the legacy of academic V.V. Shatalyn.

The name of Panas Tytenko has become known well beyond the boundaries of Ukraine. Since 1995 he has been actively participating in exhibitions abroad. The Daily Post, an English newspaper, wrote in 1998 "the works of the artist, created in impressionist style, are well thought out, vivid, colourful and very eye-catching" and will not leave indifferent even the most demanding lover of art.