28. Starry Night [1983]

In his painting creativity, Georgi Baev often develops similar types of subjects, in which he solves diverse plastic tasks - in the tonal construction of the picture, in constructing space and composition, in achieving the emotional and psychological state. He applies some "iconographic schemes", in which he reaches a variety of plastic solutions. Indicative in this respect is the painting "Starry Night", created in 1983. In the early period of his work - the 1960s of the twentieth century, Georgi Baev paints a series of seascapes, where the painting is restrained and synthetic. In the 80s, he works mostly on the themes of "Memory", "The Best Drowned Man", "Refugees". His painting during this already mature period becomes increasingly expressive and approaches abstraction. After graduating from the Art Academy, Georgi Baev works in the field of graphics and scenography. The creative imprint of his work in the theater has remained in the unconscious tendency to build composition as a scenic space where the horizon line is always placed low. This type of composition is also applied in the painting "Starry Night". The subject is positioned in the central part of the composition, and above the horizon is the airspace, saturated with tones. Compositionally, the structure of the painting is multiplied in dozens of subsequent canvases. Georgi Baev is an exceptional psychologist, director, and scenographer in his painting. The sea is the main character in his artworks. The sea as a symbol of the eternal, the infinity, the life, the creative beginning. Such understanding excludes the representation of the sea as an attraction, landscape, or scenery. In his canvases it is not a azure reflection of sunlight, as is traditionally represented in Bulgarian painting, but a solid mass defining the horizon line, the distance, the emotional register and giving meaning to the entire canvas. It fills it with content and makes all details and illustrative elements unnecessary. The “Starry Night” canvas portrays another characteristic feature in the overall creativity of the artist - in building the composition there is not a moment of hesitation. (S.N.)

Dimensions

width 47.5 cm, height 56.5 cm

Description

oil paints on plywood, Signed and dated in the lower right, in blue, "G. Baev, (19)83"

Lot.notes

Signed and named on the back, with a pen, "Starry Night, Valko Gaidarov, Bulgaria, Noche de Estrellas-46/55"

Dating

1983

PROVENANCE

Collection of Valko Gaidarov (1937-2009), among the founders and first director of Art Gallery - Smolyan (1971-2003).

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