site.btaTaraclia Cultural Heritage Museum Presents Paintings by Bessarabian Bulgarian Nikolay Kotoman

Paintings by self-taught artist of Bulgarian origin Nikolay Kotoman can be seen until December 1 in the Dimitar Peychev Art Gallery in Taraclia. The 26 canvases mainly feature landscapes from the artist's birthplace and still lifes.

Taraclia Cultural Heritage Museum Director Tatiana Nekit, who is also the organizer of the cultural event, told BTA that the exhibition was organized on the occasion of the Day of the Bessarabian Bulgarians, which is celebrated on October 29.

"We wanted to present the creativity of one of ours, a Bulgarian from Bessarabia, to show our residents that our people are talented and have a thirst for creativity," said Nekit. "We are currently negotiating for him to donate his paintings to the city, as artist Dimitar Peychev, who is a prominent and popular artist in Ukraine and Moldova, did," the Director also shared.

Nikolay Kotoman was born in 1954 in Altai. By profession, he is an engineer at the Taraclia Winery. He explained that his job is also a creative one and requires a lot of imagination.  

“I used to paint different symbols on one of the house walls in my yard. I moved on to paper after my daughter sent me very high quality and expensive acrylic paints. She showed my paintings to an artist from Bulgaria, who gave me "wings" with his assessment. In four years, I painted about 67 paintings, of which 26 are presented in the exhibition, and about 40 were given to friends and relatives," the artist said.

“I don't sell my paintings; I only give them away. Trading "killing" my inspiration. It can't all be about money, my art and soul are not for sale," noted Kotoman.