DECHKO UZUNOV SECULAR MONUMENTAL ART
125TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ARTIST’S BIRTH
February – June, 2024
Exhibition opening: 29 February (Thursday), 6 pm
ART GALLERY DECHKO UZUNOV
Between the late 1920’s and the early 1980’s, Dechko Uzuno created, though not frequently, numerous significant monumental artworks. More than ten of the places housing monumental artworks that reveal the artist’s significant creative potential have survived to this day. In the period between the 1920’ and the 1940’s, he worked in a number of private residences creating mostly murals. During the 1930’s, the artist was asked to design the Bulgarian pavilion for the 1937 International Exposition in Paris and he also created a stained glass panel for the boardroom of the Bulgarian National Bank (1939). At the onset of the decade to follow, he worked on the decoration of the façade of the Ministry of the Interior and Public Health (1941) and painted a mural in the Hall of Justice in Sofia (1942). The 1950’s saw the creation of very few monumental artworks and Dechko Uzunov was no exception to the trend. During this decade, the artist joined a team that contributed to the decoration of the Sofia Ballet and Opera House (1954/5). During the 1960’s, Dechko Uzunov painted a mural in the Bulgarian Cultural Centre in Warsaw (1961) and created a mosaic in the Bulgarian town of Karlovo (circa 1965). During the 1970’s and 1980’s, he worked in: the State Opera House in the city of Stara Zagora (1971), Georgi Dimitrov Mausoleum (1974/5), Ivan Vazov National Theatre in Sofia (1976), Boyana Presidential Residence (1979), Kazanlak Hotel (1980), the National Palace of Culture (1981), etc.
Dechko Uzunov. 125th anniversary of the artist’s birth is a partnership project of the Sofia City Art Gallery, the Kazanlak City Art Gallery and the Archives State Agency with numerous exhibitions within its framework, including the current one. The latter also constitutes part one of the documentary exhibition Dechko Uzunov. Monumental Art. Over the period February – June 2024, viewers will have the opportunity to see archive photos, drafts and artworks attempting to create a visual narrative of Dechko Uzunov’s development in the field of secular monumental art.
The project was made possible with kind support from the Culture Program of the Capital City Municipal Authority, as well as with help from the Union of Bulgarian Artists, the Bulgarian National Bank, the Sofia Ballet and Opera House, the State Opera House in the city of Stara Zagora, Ivan Vazov National Theatre in Sofia, the National History Museum, Museum of Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski, Vasil Levski peoples’ community center in the town of Karlovo, St. John the Precursor Cathedral in the town of Kazanlak and St. John of Rila Church in the town of Pernik.
1. Mural in the apartment of Penka and Neyko Neykov, 1928
2. Stained glass panel, Bulgarian National Bank boardroom, 1939
3. Dechko Uzunov in front of the facade of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Public Health on on 6 Septemvri St., 1941.
4. Fragment of the mural Administration of Justice in Medieval Bulgaria, 1942
second floor, boardroom of the Hall of Justice in Sofia
5. Detail of ceramic wall panel Orpheus, 1971
South lobby of State Opera House, city of Stara Zagora
6. Ivan Kirkov and Dechko Uzunov painting the ceilings of the lobby and the Auditorium in the Ivan Vazov National Theatre in Sofia, 1976
7. Dechko Uzunov in front of the mural Celebration of Bulgarian Culture, 1981, National Palace of Culture
8. Draft of the mural Celebration of Bulgarian Culture, circa 1981
tempera on cardboard, 73 х 102 cm
Inventory No 22С
Dechko Uzunov Art Gallery, Sofia.