This retrospective jubilee exhibition, hosted by the Sofia City Art Gallery, commemorates the 110th anniversary of Ivan Nenov’s birth. He was among the most avant-garde artists of the 1930’s, who earned a special place in the history of Bulgarian visual arts.

The artist’s works belong to, various fields, namely painting, graphic arts, ceramic arts and applied arts, all of them revealing his idiosyncratic style. Regardless of the passing of time, his works never grew old, neither did they lose their lyricism and exquisiteness. They owe their appeal to their plasticity, the use of gentle, light colors, which kept their freshness, regardless of the years that have passed, as well as to the specific use of line, that singles out his work. It is the use of line that lends monumentality and plasticity to his works, contributing to their inimitable power of expression.

The exhibition features works, belonging to different stages of Ivan Nenov’s career as an artist. It aims to reveal the artist’s multi-faceted work, which involves the use of various styles, as well as the artistic processes and approaches, showing the free spirit of a person relying on the power of his mind. The documentary aspect of the exhibition is also of interest, as it features drawings (sketches), documents and photographs, related to the artist’s life and career. Some of them are exhibited for the first time.

The exhibition features more than 80 paintings, graphic art and ceramic art works belonging to the Sofia City Art Gallery, the National Art Gallery, the Historical Museum of the Town of Balchik, the Plovdiv City Art Gallery, the “Old Plovidv” Municipal Institute, the Stara Zagora City Art Gallery, the “Iliya Petrov” Razgrad City Art Gallery, the “Dimitar Dobrovich” Sliven City Art Gallery, The “Iliya Beshkov” Pleven City Art Gallery, the Ruse City Art Gallery, the “Ivan Funev” Vratsa City Art Gallery, the “Svetlin Rusev” Donation-Collection – city of Pleven, the “Svetlin Rusev” Studio-Collection – Sofia, the “Boyan Radev” collection and other private collections. The exhibition was organized with support from and in partnership with the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Bulgaria, the “Archives” State Agency.

An exhibition catalogue is available in Bulgarian and English.