eTwinning Seminar Art and Culture

1. The Girl with the Apples by Vladimir Dimitrov — The Master
Vladimir Dimitrov — The Master (1882 – 1960) is one of the most talented 20th century
Bulgarian painters and remarkable stylist in the post-Russo-Turkish War era. His portraits
and compositions have expressive and vivid color, idealistic quality of the image, profound
symbolic strength and originality. The main topic which he explores is the relation between
Man and Nature. His main purpose is to elevate man and humanity, to bring it closer to
harmony.
Vladimir Dimitrov studied in the School of Drawing in Sofia. In the period before and after
the First World War he travelled extensively. After that he spent almost all of his life in a
village near his hometown.
Vladimir Dimitrov is famous not only because of his paintings but also because of his
lifestyle. His family was poor but even after he became famous, he was trying to give away
all of his possessions and money, living in poverty, wearing old clothes, never shaving and
eating only vegetarian food. This is the reason why even while alive, many people believed
that he was a saint and showed great affection for him.
Vladimir Dimitrov is an outstanding artist who includes bright colors and today he is
considered a fauvist type rather than expressionist. He uses a wide range of post-
impressionist techniques, but his works always keep a strong bound with reality and try to
simplify many of the figures and compositions. The main expressive strength does not come
from the clarity of the images but from the colors.

2. Monologue by Alexander Genov
Alexander Genov. was born in 1984 in Stara Zagora, Bulgaria. He’s an artist, working in the
field of visual arts. He graduated from Veliko Turnovo University, Fine Arts Department,
Major in Painting (Bachelor Degree) and Graphic Design (Master Degree).
He is committed to environmental issues andhe’s been a volunteerin Wildlife Rescue Centres
in Bulgaria and Czech Republic. Besides he worked in the project EVS (European Voluntary
Service) in Náchod, Czech Republic (2013/2014).
Since 2007 he has arranged five solo exhibitions (in Stara Zagora, Plovdiv and Sofia
(Bulgaria) andNáchod(CzechRepublic)) and participatedin manygroup exhibitions, including
Affordable Art Fair in New York (2010) and Art MRKT in San Francisco

3. Bulgarian Folk Dances by Ivan Markvichka
Ivan Markvichka is a Bulgarian painter of Czech origin. Professor Ivan
Markvichka was born in a village in Czech Republic, in 1856. He studied
at Prague Academy of Fine Arts and in The Munich Art Academy. At the
invitation of the New Bulgarian Government after the liberation of
Turkish Oppression, in 1881, he came to Bulgaria. He was appointed as a
teacher in the city of Plovdiv. He was an important Bulgarian art figure
after the Russian-Turkish War, one of the foundersof the new Bulgarian
art. The most significant achievement of the artist is the portrayals of
folk festivals and customs, as in the picture “Bulgarian Folk Dances”. In
Bulgarian it is called “Rachenitsa”. He also worked in the field of history
paintings. With his great honesty and a deep sense of patriotism he
recreated moments of Bulgarian history. He gave his portraits unique
artistic value. After morethan four decades working in Bulgaria, he came
back in the Czech Republic, where he died in 1938.

4. Givers by Georgi Chapkanov
Georgi Chapkanov was born in 1943 in the city of Vulchi dol, Dobrudja, Bulgaria.
Married with three children.
Education
1956 – 1961 Art high school, in Sofia, Bulgaria.
1963 – 1969 Master degree of refined sculpture at National Academy of Arts, in
Sofia
1973 Educated at Cite Internationale des Arts, in Paris
Professional Experience
1974 - 1996 Lecturer at National Academy of Arts in Sofia. Sculpture professor.
Works in the field of drawing, small sculpture, portrait, sculpture monuments,
medals, interior and exterior decoration.
Author of the Bulgarian national emblem, the statue of Saint Sofia in the city center,
created for the new millennium, and lots of jubilee coins and medals.
Participated in many international exhibitions.