25. Cotton weaving [1937]

Nikola Valchev is one of those artists who were trained in the intricacies of classical painting, but dictated by their inner views on artistic aesthetics, and who built their own characteristic way of painting. A student of professors Tseno Todorov and Stefan Ivanov at the Art Academy in Sofia in the 1920s, Valchev skillfully formed his feelings for color and imagery. In Nikola Valchev's work, his interest in the Bulgarian way of life, nature and culture is clearly distinguishable, as his daughter Veneta Valcheva-Merekiova shared in an interview: "All the people who knew him admired him - as ethics, morals, and his attitude towards people. This explains the great love he had for the Bulgarian peasant and his way of life - for those poor at that time, or people who live up high in the mountains and maintain their way of life in the most primitive way. Between the 1930s and 1940s, he constantly went to paint high up in the mountains”. Valchev seems not only to immerse himself in the life of the man from the distant small villages, but also emotionally touches his inner world. The strained faces and hands, body postures, clothing and all other physical characteristics reveal to the viewer some real and sincere images in the artist's paintings, images that are not really defined only by their style, but also by their soul. The works of Nikola Valchev from the 30s and 40s are characterized by expressive brushstrokes, gentle coloring and impactful contrasts. Their subjects are typical of Bulgarian art in the period. We find similar subjects with the artists Dobri Dobrev, Dimitar Gyuzhenov and others. Valchev's works are distinguished by their compositions, in which there is usually a central figure and the interior of the home, the domestic environment or the surrounding environment is built around it. Traditionally, the viewer's eye is first engaged by the posture of the main image and gradually sinks into the impactful details. (A.M.)"

References

Interview of Maria Popova for Radio Bulgaria, September 1997, Sofia

Dimensions

width 68 cm, height 57.5 cm

Description

oil on canvas, signed and dated bottom right, in brown, "Н. Вълчевъ, 1937"

Lot.notes

exhibition label on back

Dating

1937

PROVENANCE

collection of the heirs of the artist.

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