Text: Magdalena Gigova
NEF ‘13 Centuries of Bulgaria’ presents selected and remarkable works from its collection of donations. Some of them are by the artist Nayden Petkov. The painter entrusted to the Fund canvases with landscapes of Bulgaria, Greece and China in the monochromatic colours characteristic of this period of his life.
Тhe artist was born in the village of Vidrare. While still a pupil, he displayed aquarelles of his in the main hall of the First Sofia All-male Secondary School. After his participation in the Patriotic War, he won a first prize from the Ministry of Defence for the painting, ‘Following the Battle of Niš’. He possessed not only a talent for painting, but also for teaching , serving as a long-time professor and Rector of the Academy of Arts.
His painting is characterised by subtle nuances of warm and cold colours. He created figural compositions, portraits and landscapes while simultaneously working as an art director of iconic Bulgarian films such as ‘Troubled Path’, ‘The Gerak Family’, and ‘The Intransigents’. He also designed the posters for ‘Adam’s Rib’ and ‘Fate of a Man’.
Petkov’s versatile talent assigned him a place in all the General Art Exhibitions from 1945 until his death in 1989. His canvases have been exhibited in Moscow, Berlin, Warsaw, Budapest, Venice, Paris, Mexico, Shanghai, Lugano, Ljubljana, Algeria, Tunisia.
He was one of the few Bulgarian artists whose oeuvre represents a completely autonomous world, untouched by fashionable trends. His paintings are comprehensible, yet at the same time spiritual; and they cannot be mistaken for any other.
The canvases in the collection of NEF ‘13 Centuries of Bulgaria’ were personally selected and donated by the artist.
You can view Nayden Petkov’s exhibition at Prof. Vasil Gerov Hall with the assistance of the expert, Dr Mila Stareishinska-Angelova, as well as through the camera of Tsvetan Ignatovski.