On a trip into Old Town in Plovdiv, I decided to explore a house that I had not visited before. Although this home is one of the precious Bulgarian Revival Houses of the 18th & 19th centuries, it is not a museum per say. Instead, it is being used to exhibit an enormous collection of art by the Bulgarian artist Zlatyu Boyadziev.
The House
Built in 1860 the house originally belonged to Dr. Chomakov who was head of the first Bulgarian hospital in Plovdiv. At the turn of the century, it became the summer residence of Tsar Ferdinand. And in 1984 it was made the permanent exhibition place for the prolific art work of Boyadziev.
Zlatyu Boyadziev
A truly Bulgarian artist, being born and raised here, Boyadziev was in fact a teacher for much of his life. He suffered a stroke in 1951 and his work took a different turn after that period.
Prior to the stroke that left the right side of his body paralyzed, Boyarziev centred his work around the peasant people of Bulgaria. After the episode, his work became more grotesque and the images imaginary (depictions of fairy tales).
The Gallery
The house consists of two floors, with smaller rooms attached to either side of the large main parlour room in the centre. At the back is the staircase that will take one to the upper floor. This layout is almost identical to Stambolyan House.
When I entered the building, no one was there to greet me, I simply walked into the open front doors.
All of the lights were off, even though it was an hour after the gallery had officially opened for the day. It wasn’t until I started walking around on the upper floor, and the wooden floor boards were creaking under my feet, that the lights suddenly sprang on.
I found it quite pleasant to have the whole house to myself in the dim morning light. It gave me a different perspective when viewing the paintings. After the lights were turned on, of course the images were brighter, but it also changed the temperament of the work.
Images that are quite intimidating became less so with the lights on, and I wasn’t sure which I preferred best.
I really enjoyed Boyadziev’s paintings. He has a heavy hand with the volume of paint he uses, which I favour. The brush strokes are not gentle and his images gave me a very good insight into the peasant way of life in old Bulgaria.
