Good viewing in Sofia

Some great exhibitions recently here in Sofia

You don’t often get to see collections of Nikola Tanev’s paintings – the last one was 5 years ago at the National Gallery. But last month the Finesse private Gallery put on a fascinating collection some of which I;ve put on flickr

Spassov, Angel (1884-1974) was a well-known  sculptor – one of many greats produced by Bulgaria although the current exhibition at the Bulgarian Union of Artists on Shipka St also shows what a good painter he was…A great catalogue on his work was recently issued by Pleven Gallery

And the National Gallery has just opened a rare exhibition of industrial landscapes which cover not only the communist period but the early part of the century too. Here are some examples from my flickr collection.

The first is a Zlatyu Boiadjiev (from 1945);

the second a Petar Dochev;

the third a powerful canvas (1965) from of Bulgaria's first women industrial landscape artists - Maria Stolarova (who's still going strong - but with still-lives);













and the last - a 1950s Nikola Tanev

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Those wanting to see more of examples of Socialist realist can consult Socialist construction in the work of Bulgarian artists (Sofia 1954) one of the many resources available in my Bulgarian Encounters – a cultural romp