EXHIBITION | 100 YEARS SINCE ALEKSANDAR DENKOV'S BIRTH (1925–1972)

On the occasion of the 100th birth anniversary of the great Bulgarian illustrator Alexander Denkov, the National Academy of Art received a generous donation from Ms Iliana Arnaudova and Mr Adrian Arnaudov. The donation includes 436 illustrations, drawings, projects, photographs, archival materials and documents related to the artist's life and creative work. Some of the artworks have been shown in retrospective exhibitions at the Union of Bulgarian Artists, the "St. St. Cyril and Methodius" National Library in Sofia, and many cities in Bulgaria. Today, the artworks are part of the Museum Collection of the National Academy of Art – the oldest museum institution in the country, where students and public will have the opportunity to be acquainted with them. Thus, the artistic work of Aleksandar Denkov remains living heritage and passes on its lessons to young artists.

 

This comprehensive collection was built, kept and passed on to the heirs, the Arnaudov family, by Arch. Dimitar Novachkov–the artist's closest friend and ardent connoisseur of his work. Thanks to his noble mission, the work of Aleksandar Denkov was presented in the aforementioned retrospective exhibitions. We rarely witness such a selfless attitude towards a great and valuable work, of sincere friendship in the name of art.

 

The exhibition presents nearly 40 works, as well as a portrait of Arch. Dimitar Novachkov painted by his teacher and mentor Arch. Georgi Fingov (1874–1944)–one of the great names in Bulgarian architecture from the beginning of the 20th century, along with Petko Momchilov, Kiro Marichkov, Nikola Yurukov and others.

 

During his short creative and life path, Aleksandar Denkov created a large-scale and diverse work. The exhibition aims to present a worthy part of it by emphasising some of the more important achievements. Aleksandar Denkov is a school for many contemporary artists in Bulgarian book illustration. His artistic work is well known to his colleagues and to generations of readers who grew up with his illustrations, but it is necessary to popularise it among young artists. Some of the artist's achievements, ahead of their time, are still unknown to the general public.