Vladimir was active in the American Medical Association Art Division, as well as the Los Angeles County Medical Art Society. He was commissioned by the Peoria Museum of History to do a series of murals to enhance various exhibits relating to central Illinois Native American Indian culture ranging back 1,000 years.Vladimir’s talents were formally recognized throughout his career with numerous first place and Best of Show awards, including the Salk Institute Award, the 1964 Grumblacher Gold Medal, the Los Angeles Gold Medal presented by the then-Mayor, and the California Gold Medal in 1978.A champion of realism in art, Vladimir lectured, taught and wrote many articles relating to art and was a much sought-after art show judge.Vladimir was working on a portrait of his granddaughter on the day of his death, January 16, 1986.The Vladimir Iwasiuk exhibit will hang on the Douglas Shively Memorial Wall at BCL throughout January and will be taken down for the 63rd Annual Santa Paula Art & Photography Show, which opens February 8.The library, located at 119 N. 8th St., is open 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturdays.
Works of Vladimir Iwasiuk to be featured at BCL by SP Society of the Arts
December 29, 1999
Santa Paula News
An unfinished portrait of his granddaughter was the poignant end of an acclaimed artist’s career whose works will be highlighted by the Santa Paula Society of the Arts “January Featured Artist of the Month” at Blanchard Community Library.
The works of Vladimir Iwasiuk, the late father of Santa Paula physician Dr. Gosta Iwasiuk, promise to be a “rare treat,” according to Virginia Gunderson of the SPSA.Born in 1905 in Czernowitz, a city then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Vladimir studied medicine as well as academic art, oil, watercolor, and sculpting under several well-known European artists, studying in Vienna, Linz, and Graz, Austria, as well as Bucharest and Iassy, Rumania.“He practiced medicine in Europe and the USA but painting and sculpting was always his favorite ‘second job’,” noted Dr. Gosta Iwasiuk.He created works in a variety of media including charcoal, watercolor, oil and clay. His preferences for subject matter ran the gamut from still life to seascape to landscape to portrait.“He enjoyed painting from life most of all, but when that was not possible he would do on-scene sketches and then work in his studio from them as as well as notes,” detailing the subject matter, said Dr. Gosta Iwasiuk.Vladimir was widely exhibited in throughout Austria, Rumania and Germany starting at the age of 14! At his initial show he attracted the attention of law enforcement by doing a drawing of the local currency with such accuracy that he was accused of counterfeiting; however, he managed to beat the rap when he revealed that he reproduced only one side of the bill.When he and his family emigrated to the United States in 1954, Vladimir continued his artistic endeavors and was the focus of numerous one-man shows in the mid-west, including Chicago.
