Mykhailo Onatsko is an Honored Master of Folk Art of Ukraine, a member of the National Union of Folk Art Masters of Ukraine, and a laureate of a number of art awards. He was born on November 28, 1940, in the Khomenky village near Dykanka in the Poltava region, where crafts, folklore, and love for Ukraine were passed down from generation to generation. By education he is a historian and he worked in various positions. He began to paint in the late 1980s.
His native land became the source of the artist's inspiration. Mykhailo Onatsko’s art is a true encyclopedia of folk life: winter vechornytsi (traditional evening gatherings), caroling, spring hayivky (spring singing and dancing rituals), Easter, Ivan Kupala, weddings, the life of chumaks (salt traders on wagons), Cossack and Gogol-inspired themes. The artist possesses a unique style — bright, free, and sincere, like the Poltava region itself. Christmas is one of the artist's favorite subjects, with over a hundred works dedicated to it.
