Opening on Tuesday, 18 October, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Lilyana Rousseva’s name is well known to those who were participants in or followed the development of the visual arts in Bulgaria in the second half of the 20th century. The artist’s work inarguably represents a significant share of the leading directions and trends in the art of that time, both in its appearance and character. The current exhibition on the occasion of the 90th anniversary of the artist’s birth is an opportunity not only to touch her world in paintings, watercolours, and drawings once again, but also to understand and experience them in a new light, more fully and overall in terms of her undisputed contribution to our artistic culture.
In the world the artist built, we will not encounter conflicts or contradictions, existential dramas or the self-centred self-disclosure of the artist’s Ego so common in the world of the contemporary artist. Nor will we find signs of forced and domineering expression emphasizing the subjective beginning. Quite the contrary – Lilyana Rousseva’s ethical attitude implies a reduction of the self and a quiet, unobtrusive reverence for the enigma of the other and “the courage of the artist to protect the liberated intimacy of the female personality” (Kiril Krastev).
Through landscapes, portraits, self-portraits, still lifes, figural compositions, and nudes, an attempt has been made to encompass the entire genre and thematic variety of Lilyana Rousseva’s paintings. Included are paintings and drawings from the inventory of the National Gallery, the Sofia City Art Gallery, the art galleries in Pleven, Gabrovo, Kyustendil, Plovdiv, Ruse, Varna, Lovech, Sliven, and Smolyan, from her heirs and from private collectors. The exhibition is accompanied by a publication with texts by Prof. Chavdar Popov and Ivo Milev. It has been realized through the financial support of the Ministry of Culture.
The curator is Ivo Milev, with his assistant, Dr. Tanya Staneva.