4. The Yard in Karnobat (the artist's house) [1960]

Bencho Obreshkov is one of the significant representatives of Bulgarian art and a leading figure in the development of modern painting in the 20th century. He was born in 1899 in the town of Karnobat in a craftsman family. In his hometown Obreshkov received his basic and secondary education. He continued his drawing education at the Art and Industrial School in Sofia with Prof. Petko Klisurov and Prof. Ivan Angelov. Later, he became a student at the Dresden Art Academy with Prof. Oskar Kokoschka. Bencho Obreshkov's attachment to his hometown is expressed in his first student exhibition, where he mainly presents watercolors and oil compositions. Later in Dresden (in May 1926) a solo exhibition was organized with 40 oil, watercolor and graphic works - figurative compositions, portraits, landscapes. In his landscapes, Bencho Obreshkov preserves the spirit of the settlement-life theme. They are almost always filled with groups of figures in the picturesque richness of nature. Obreshkov's life from the second half of the 1930s is exceptionally dynamic and productive. The artist creates a large number of landscapes from different parts of Bulgaria, Romania and other countries. The artist participates in numerous joint and solo exhibitions both in Bulgaria and abroad, while in 1944 350 of his paintings were destroyed due to bombing over Sofia. After this critical moment, his work undergoes stylistic changes. As an artist with various creative quests, Bencho Obreshkov works in the field of figurative composition, portrait, landscape and still life. In the plastic language of Obreshkov, an expressive attitude stands out, with a keen sense of color and light, with a pronounced sense of free plastic form in the composition. Towards the end of the 1950s, the themes of rural labor and fishing plot in geometric and stylized polychrome forms excite the artist. This is the so-called period of "Neo-folklore cubism". But also, no less in number are his works in the more traditional and recognizable handwriting of Bencho - with expressive strokes and contrasting contours. The work "The Yard in Karnobat (the artist's house)" is an example of these creative pursuits of Obreshkov in the early 1960s. And the depicted scene brings the viewer closer to the personal and emotional experiences of the artist, who is so deeply connected with his roots. Throughout his professional artistic journey, the work of Bencho Obreshkov becomes part of a number of museums and galleries abroad such as Yugoslavia, Romania, Dresden, Dusseldorf, London, Paris, Moscow, England and other countries. Bencho Obreshkov died in April 1970. (M.G.)

References

Krastev, Kiril (1982). Bencho Obreshkov. Sofia: ed. Bulgarian artist

Dimensions

width 64.5 cm, height 49.5 cm

Description

oil paints on paper, signed at the bottom right, in black, "B. Obreshkov"

Research information

The painting is reproduced in the monograph Krastev, Kiril (1982). Bencho Obreshkov. Sofia: Bulgarian Artist Publishing House, p. 242/243, No. 370, under the title "Rural Yard", dated 1960.

Lot.notes

On the back is an exhibition label, "Rural yard, Bencho Obreshkov's house, 1960."

Dating

1960

PROVENANCE

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

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