19. Landscape with horses [1980s]

Georgi Bozhilov-Slona was born in 1935 in Plovdiv. He graduated from the Higher Institute of Fine Arts "Nikolai Pavlovich" (NHA) in 1959 with a degree in decorative-monumental painting in the class of Prof. Georgi Bogdanov. In addition to Prof. Bogdanov, another artist and teacher who had a huge influence on the formation of Bozhilov's distinctive style was Prof. Kiril Tsonev. One of Georgi Bozhilov's first creative successes was his participation in the first international biennial of young artists in Paris in 1959. The French newspaper Arts commented on his appearance at the biennial: "Unadulterated truth, intimacy and elegance". In Bulgaria he became known as "the most delicate painter in our country" and his work was defined as "light and feelings in color". Bozhilov is part of the “Plovdiv School of the 1960s” together with artists such as Encho Pironkov, Dimitar Kirov, Yoan Leviev, Hristo Stefanov and Georgi Boyadzhiev-Boyadjana. Georgi Bozhilov-Slona had over 25 solo exhibitions in Bulgaria and abroad during his lifetime. He was awarded the Union of Bulgarian Artists (1964) and was an Honored Artist (1979). Georgi Bozhilov-Slona works in the field of easel painting, genre portrait, landscape and figurative composition. But he also creates applied works such as murals, mosaics and sgraffito. The most frequently used technique by the artist is oil paints and collage techniques. After the 1980s, Bozhilov finally immersed himself in the style of abstractionism. He turned to philosophy, music and other forms of art, which allowed him to develop in a huge range and go beyond the framework of the flat and traditional. This is noticeable in the play with form and color in his canvases. The work "Landscape with Horses" clearly presents the artist's main searches in the 1980s: "... his keen sense of rhythm, for harmonious juxtaposition of tones and understanding of textured plasticity". The color in golden ocher, the different tones of brown - from warm to cold, bring a sense of harmony and rhythm, and the red accents - in the figure of the horse in the foreground and in the landscape in the background, skillfully attract the viewer's eye. Georgi Bozhilov-Slona is an extremely valuable and emblematic figure in the development of Bulgarian painting. He is an artist who clearly presents the deep and rich inner world of the artist. The artist who, with his pictorial talent, combines different forms of art such as music and poetry with philosophy, leaving behind works full of ideas and meaning.

References

Dzhurova, Aksinia (1980). Album "Georgi Bozhilov-Slona", Sofia: Bulgarian Artist Publishing House

Dimensions

width 61.5 cm, height 51 cm, custom 51 × 61,5 cm

Description

oil on canvas, signed bottom right, in brown, "Г. Божилов"

Lot.notes

signed and titled on the back, in pencil, "G. Bozhilov, landscape with horses"

Dating

1980s

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