15. Rhodope landscape [1963]

The photos of the lot are informative and indicative, and cannot provide a highly detailed view of the object from all angles. We recommend a careful physical inspection of the lot before bidding.

15. Rhodope landscape [1963]

1928, Sofia - 2001, Sofia

Estimate:
EUR 2.500 - 3.500
Sold
EUR 7.500

oil on canvas laid on cardboard, 48.5 x 68 cm, 48,5 × 68 cm, signed and dated bottom right, in blue, "Л. Янко, (19)63"

Research information

The artwork is reproduced in Iliev, Krasimir. "Lika Yanko: Communicating with the Sacred", Lorani Gallery, 2019, p. 117, no. 12, with the title "Rhodopi Landscape"

Lika Yanko was born in Sofia on March 19, 1928 as Evangeliya Lazar Grabova in the family of Lazar Yankov Grabov - an Albanian public figure and chairman of the Union of Albanian Cultural Societies in Bulgaria. She studied at the French College in Sofia, where she became acquainted with Impressionism and Post-Impressionism, which later had a strong influence on her work. In 1946 she was accepted into the Academy of Arts, majoring in Painting, under professors Dechko Uzunov and Iliya Petrov, but did not graduate. Her first solo exhibition was in 1967 in Sofia, but was terminated prematurely. Lika Yanko continued to paint, but did not exhibit her canvases until 1981. In the mid-1970s, her paintings began to be purchased by foreign embassies and received high praise from European gallery owners. Throughout her life, Lika Yanko held 7 solo exhibitions. At the end of her life, she donated 82 canvases to the Sofia Art Gallery and 100 to the National Gallery. In the 1960s, Lika Yanko worked in the field of classical painting technique on canvas. In 1962, the painting “Self-portrait with a dog” provoked criticism from the Bulgarian Academy of Arts, which was the reason for the artist to isolate herself for a long time from official artistic life. From the mid-1960s, she began to experiment with the texture of the canvas by layering large amounts of oil paint and literally modeling the painted surface. During the same period, she began to work in the collage technique, with which she is recognizable in Bulgarian art. On the white background of the canvas, she glued colored stones, glass, beads, which were outlined by hemp braided ropes. The painting “Rhodopes Landscape” refers to the early work of Lika Yanko, when she worked in a traditional painting technique with oil paints on canvas. The colors are decorative - bright, saturated tones, strong contrasts, often much more emotional than strictly naturalistic. Thus, Lika Yanko's landscapes from this period carry an element of abstraction - the landscape is not just a "realistic portrait" of nature, but rather its "rebirth" through the artist's personal sensibility. The work presents all the characteristic features of her pictorial work - the primary power of color, conventionality and syntheticity of images and an inimitable visual language. (S.N.)"

For clarifications regarding the bidding procedure, hammer price costs, guarantee, payment, and collection terms for the winning lot, we recommend carefully reading/re-reading the Bidding Regulations.

For additional information regarding the lot and the auction, please contact the Art Consultants Department.

SESSION
Thu, 16 October 2025 18:00
Brought to you by

Similar lots

Cosmos

81. Cosmos [1976]

Nikolay Diulgheroff

    Estimate: EUR 350 - 550
    Sold EUR 700
Harbour in Sozopol

67. Harbour in Sozopol [1970s]

Vladimir Manski

    Estimate: EUR 700 - 1.200
    Sold EUR 2.500
Madonna in blue

106. Madonna in blue [1992]

Svetlin Rusev

    Estimate: EUR 700 - 1.000
    Sold EUR 1.800