Peter Lipinski

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Peter Lipinski (1888 – 8 November 1975) was a Ukrainian-Canadian painter and iconographer known for his religious paintings and decorative work in churches across the Canadian Prairies. Born in Galicia, he trained as an iconographer before immigrating to Canada shortly before the First World War. He eventually settled in Edmonton, Alberta, where he established a workshop and received commissions from churches throughout Western Canada. Over approximately 35 years, he painted the interiors of as many as 45 churches in Alberta alone.

Life and career

Lipinski was born in 1888 in Hadykivtsi, Galicia, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and now in Ternopil Oblast, Ukraine. He studied at a parish icon-painting workshop in Husiatyn and further developed his skills at the Pochaiv Holy Dormition Lavra. He painted icons for churches in the Ternopil region. Lipinski spent three years in the Austrian Army, where he apparently continued painting. He attained the rank of sergeant and declined an offer to reenlist at a higher rank, returning instead to his native village to live with his mother. Following her death, he decided to immigrate to Canada. He initially lived in Winnipeg before settling in Edmonton. After several years in Edmonton, he married Mary Sereda, daughter of an early Ukrainian settler in the Leduc district.

After establishing a workshop in Edmonton, Lipinski began receiving commissions from Ukrainian immigrant communities throughout the Prairie provinces. His work appeared in Ukrainian Greek Catholic, Ukrainian Orthodox, Russian Orthodox and Polish Roman Catholic churches. Although the majority of his commissions were in Alberta, he also produced work for churches in Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

Lipinski generally approached each church as an individual commission, consulting with parish representatives about the proposed imagery and cost. The positioning of religious images followed Byzantine iconographic traditions that he had learned in Galicia. Individual icons were frequently funded by parishioners or groups of families.

Artistic work

Lipinski's work included icons, wall paintings, decorative borders and painted architectural details. He adapted his methods to the construction of prairie churches, many of which had interior walls finished with tongue-and-groove boards. Rather than painting directly onto these surfaces, he prepared images on canvas in his Edmonton workshop, generally during the winter. He subsequently attached the finished canvases to church walls and ceilings during the warmer months, painting around them to integrate the images with the surrounding decoration.

His decorative work frequently incorporated painted imitations of brickwork and marble, as well as geometric and ornamental patterns. He also painted frames directly onto some of his canvas icons. His compositions followed established Byzantine iconographic conventions while incorporating decorative elements suited to the individual churches and their congregations.

Beyond church interiors, Lipinski produced icons for private homes and painted backdrops for cultural halls and theatre productions. Two examples of his work in the Oseredok art collection are Saints Bartholomew and Philip (1921) and Apostles Thomas and Simon (1921).

He also produced religious items, including ceremonial banners and Easter shrouds. Some of these items were distributed through a church-goods store in Winnipeg to congregations across Canada, with examples remaining in use decades after their production.

By the end of the Second World War, Lipinski was experiencing difficulty climbing scaffolding and working with paints for extended periods. He consequently stopped undertaking large-scale church interior painting projects. He continued producing religious artifacts for the remainder of his life.

Church commissions

A number of Alberta churches retain examples of Lipinski's work. Among his documented early commissions was the Russo-Greek Orthodox Church of St. Michael the Archangel at Peno, where he painted the walls and ceilings in 1918. He also painted the interior of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Ukrainian Catholic Church at Delph in 1925.

In 1928, the congregation of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church near Lamont, commissioned Lipinski to decorate the interior and paint individual icons. His work included painted masonry effects, multicoloured stencilled designs and an image of St. David holding a lyre in the choir loft. The church's heritage designation identifies his interior decoration as a principal element of its heritage value.

At St. John the Baptist Ukrainian Orthodox Church near Egremont, Alberta, Lipinski painted icons for the iconostasis and two additional images directly onto the interior walls. These included depictions of the Holy Mother and Infant and St. Nicholas. He also incorporated geometric painted lines to imitate masonry and decorative stars throughout the interior dome.

His commissions also included the Stry Ukrainian Catholic Church near Vilna, where the painted banners on either side of the altar are attributed to him.

Legacy

Lipinski died in Edmonton on 8 November 1975, aged 87.

Lipinski's church decorations form part of the surviving artistic heritage of Ukrainian settlement in Western Canada. Several churches containing his work have received provincial or municipal heritage recognition, with their interior paintings and iconography identified as important elements of their historical and artistic value.

The Basilian Fathers Museum in Mundare, Alberta, has included a dedicated exhibit titled Peter Lipinski: Large and Small Canvases, documenting his contribution to religious art in the province.

References