site.btaUPDATED Sofia Exhibition Commemorates Renowned Bulgarian Artist Dechko Uzunov on His Birth Anniversary

An exhibition dedicated to the 125th anniversary of the birth of renowned Bulgarian artist Dechko Uzunov opened in Sofia Thursday. It is titled "Secular Monumental Art" and is arranged in the Dechko Uzunov gallery-museum, which is a branch of the Sofia City Art Gallery, the organizers said.

The exhibition is part of a project entitled "Dechko Uzunov: 125 years since the birth of the artist", in which the Sofia City Art Gallery partners with the Kazanlak Art Gallery and the State Archives Agency. The project includes a number of exhibitions.

In February - June 2024, viewers can see archival photos, projects and works, which offer a glimpse into Uzunov's development in secular monumental art, the project team said.

Uzunov (1899-1986) worked in paining, stained glass, design, ceramics and illustration, and also taught art. He studied art under Karl von Maar at the Akademie der Bildenden Kuenste, Munich, and in 1924 under Stephan Ivanov at Sofia's National Academy of Art. In 1922, he became the youngest member of the National Art Society of Bulgaria and later its chairman. He also chaired the Union of Bulgarian Artists for several terms.

During the 1930s Uzunov became known as a master of portrait painting: among his best-known works are "Poet Liliev" (1929), "Theatre Director Masalitinov" (1931) and "Actor Krustyo Sarafov in the Role of Falstaff" (1932; all in the National Art Gallery, Sofia). From 1938 he was a professor of painting at Sofia's National Academy of Art. He represented Bulgaria at the Venice Biennale in 1942, 1948 and 1964. As a stained-glass artist, he executed commissions for the Bulgarian National Bank (1942), the Palace of Justice (1938-43) and the University of Sofia (1980), and he did a ceramic wall piece for the Opera House in Stara Zagora. His frescoes include those for the Housе of Culture in Karlovo and the National Theatre in Sofia, the latter done in 1976. His last large public commission was the fresco "Apotheosis of Bulgarian Culture" (1981) in Hall Nine of Sofia's National Palace of Culture. In his late works, including "Self-Portrait" (1979; National Art Gallery, Sofia) and "Cain and Abel" (1979; Samokov Art Gallery), he began to use abstract forms. In 1978, he was elected a member of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. He was also president of the International Association of the Plastic Arts at UNESCO in Paris.

His work was part of the painting event in the art competition at the 1936 Summer Olympics.