The “The Studio. Muses and Models” exhibition comprises part of a succession of thematic exhibitions organized by SCAG experts in the past several years. Following the “Self-portrait. Conspicuous Images and Hidden Meaning” and “Points of Intersection. Portraits of Artists by Other Artists” exhibitions, the latter project offers yet another glimpse at the artist’s inner world.

The exhibition focuses on the studio, the artist’s sacred personal space, which most often remains hidden from the eyes of outsiders. Based on a timeline of the history of Bulgarian art between the 1920’s and the present day, the exhibition is a study of artists’ attention to the studio. The exhibition features a wide circle of artists, presenting the works of familiar, as well as less familiar Bulgarian artists. The time period covered by the study allows the viewer to trace the approaches of different generations of artists.

Besides paintings, the exhibition features documentary material in the shape of photographs of various studios. The unique dialogue between the artworks and the archive and contemporary photographs offers different perspectives on the studio, thus allowing the viewer a variety of opportunities to have a glimpse at the artist’s inner world.

The works selected for the exhibition revolve around several sub-themes, namely studio – interior; studio – still-life; and the artist and the model in the studio. The exhibition features more than 130 paintings and about 60 photographs, including works by Olga Bradistilova, Elisaveta Konsoulova-Vazova, Andrey Nikolov, Asen Peykov, Vera Nedkova, Dechko Ouzounov, Nenko Balkanski, Pencho Balkanski, Ivan Penkov, Slavka Deneva, Georgi Pavlov, Atanas Yaranov, Naiden Petkov, Yordan Katsamounski, Georgi Bozhilov, Dimitur Kirov, Dolores Dilova, Nikolay Yanakiev, Lyuben Zidarov, Vasilka Moneva, Marko Monev, Roumen Skorchev, Svetlin Rousev, Sirma Sarafova, Andrey Daniel, Gredi Assa, Stanislav Pamoukchiev, Edmond Demerdzhian, Ivaylo Mirchev, Minko Yovchev, Alexander Petkov, Nina Rouseva, Atanas Atanasov, Violeta Tanova, Marina Marinova and many others.

The artworks are the property of the Sofia City Art Gallery, the National Art Gallery, the Plovdiv City Art Gallery, the Pleven City Art Gallery, the “Svetlin Rousev” Collection-Donation in the city of Pleven, the Bourgas City Art Gallery, the Rouse City Art Gallery, the Sliven City Art Gallery, the Stara Zagora City Art Gallery, the Dobrich City Art Gallery, the Pazardzhik City Art Gallery, the “Old Plovdiv” municipal institute, the Kazanluk City Art Gallery, the Kyustendil City Art Gallery, the “Angel Simeonov” Collection, the Union of Bulgarian Artists and private collectors. The photographs featured in the exhibition are the property of the “Archives” State Agency, the Research Archive of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, the Lom City Museum of History and private individuals.

A catalogue for the exhibition is available on CD-ROM.
The exhibition is curated by Milena Balcheva.

The project was made possible through the joint efforts of Adelina Fileva, Maria Vasileva, Daniela Choulova- Markova, Nadezhda Oleg-Lyahova, Ilinka Chergarova, Marin Marinov, Peter Dimov, Stefan Stefanov.