The figure of Ukrainian artist Irena-Romana Nosyk in the columns of foreign press

   During the XX century the Ukrainian diaspora in Canada had been creating its own art and improving the traditional Ukrainian one. However, in our opinion, the achievements of the Ukrainian diaspora in Canada are not known to the Ukrainian scientific community to a large extent. The names of these people have been added to the treasury of spiritual values ​​not only of Ukraine or Canada, but also the entire world, including Irena Romana Nosyk, whose first exhibition took place in 1962 in Toronto. Her works are marked by originality in images and color. In addition to her art education, she received a degree in biology and in many of her large-format paintings, she stylized what she saw under a microscope.

The relevance of the study is also due to the insufficient coverage of her activity in the scientific field. Neither in Canadian nor in Ukrainian literature will we find a complete study of her life and creative works. It is time to open this name to the Ukrainian community as well. I. Nosyk's origin -  a painter, mosaic artist and scientific illustrator in the field of biology, took roots in the family of a former military centurion of the Ukrainian Galician Army and cooperator Ivan Roman Nosyk and Lidiia Nosyk from the family of Horbachevskyi. In 1902, her uncle, the chemist Ivan Horbachevskyi, became a rector of Charles University in Prague. 

During the last decade there has been some interest in the development of Ukrainian fine arts in the diaspora as well as the works of individual Ukrainian artists. The achievements of talented Ukrainians, including members of our diaspora, are in the sphere of interests of various scientists. Among them are Halyna Novozhenets, Halyna Stelmashchuk, Roman Yatsiv. And in the artistic discourse of Canada we can find several scientific studies about Irena Nosyk, namely by the famous art critic of Canada Daria Darevych.

In this regard, the current art is actively enriched with new information about the creative biography of the artist from abroad who was previously little-known and even completely unknown in Ukraine, knowledge of the current storage of her works, which she bequeathed to the museum in Chortkiv as the international community's assessment of the contribution to the development of the world art.

The aim of this article is to define the role and place of the Ukrainian artist Irena Romana Nosyk in the foreign press. The publications from newspapers "Toronto Daily Star", "The Varsity newspaper", "The Toronto Tribune", "Star Weekly", "Globe and Mail", "Ovid-Chicago", "Freedom-Canada", etc. have been analyzed and the information about her biography, creative works, cultural communication and exhibitions of the artist has been collected. There is a significant interest of the cultural circles of Canada, the USA and Argentina in the artist’s creativity. These articles in the English press are certainly a huge success and recognition for the artist. Few other Ukrainian émigré artists received such widespread recognition and popularity. Articles in the English press resonated widely in the Ukrainian press in Canada, the USA and France. As a result of the study, the individual specific features of the artist's creativity and the reflection of her achievements in the foreign press have been highlighted.

The scientific novelty of the obtained results leads to the conclusion that the problems of investigation of Irena-Romana Nosyk's creative works have been studied in the context of the Canadian art community for the first time; a significant amount of factual material which covers a difficult and controversial period in the history of Ukrainian art has been collected, analyzed and systematized; the artist's art is considered in the context of current historical, cultural and socio-political processes. The conclusions obtained in the process of the given study allow enriching the scientific foundation of the history of Ukrainian art of the twentieth century.

Having made a historiographical review and the analysis of the reference literature as well as the methodology of the study, it has been revealed that for both Ukraine and Canada, it is important to study the life and achievements of prominent representatives of the Ukrainian nation, whose fate brought them overseas and where they, despite difficult living conditions in the foreign environment and the assimilation threat, were able not only to preserve but also to increase their cultural and artistic heritage, without renouncing their Ukrainian roots.

Having analyzed the literature referring the problem under investigation, having outlined the range of sources and methods of the study, it has been revealed that its coverage is insufficient in the scientific literature. Articles in the newspapers, eyewitnesses’ recollections, reviews of exhibitions - this is the main basis on which the article is built. Among the main sources of the formation of Irena Romana Nosyk's creative personality is her thorough education which she received at the Academy in Innsburg. The artistic environment of Canada and Europe played an important role in her creative works. 

Having described the formation of the artist's creative work and defining the role of socio-cultural environment of the artist, it has been found out that critics, both native and foreign, evaluate her works favorably, by emphasizing the strong, extraordinary skills of the artist, her innovative images. The unique peculiarity of her works lies in depicting what is inaccessible to ordinary people, a certain microcosm and the microscope as a link between the worlds.

Having analyzed the Western European vector of the artist's creative search and having indicated the specific features of her artistic creativity in the emigration (Canadian) period of Irena Nosyk, the high professionalism of the artist with an international reputation whose fame was not limited to purely artistic circles, has been revealed. The artist is specialized in paintings and drawings needed for the scientific demonstrations at the university. Her works are highly regarded in scientific and art circles in Canada

 Having highlighted art exhibitions, honors and the creative heritage of Irena-Romana Nosyk, the artist's extraordinary creative personality who took an active part in the cultural, artistic and scientific life of Canada has been made known. In this regard, we believe that the time has come to promote the art of Irena-Romana Nosyk in the Ukrainian art circles and for the general public, to write scientific articles and publish works.