SVETLIN RUSEV. PAINTING. SELECTED WORKS. 1988-2018: SOLO EXHIBITION OF THE CELEBRATED BULGARAN ARTIST SVETLIN RUSEV AT THE RUSSIAN ACADEMY OF ARTS

Dates: April 11 – May 13, 2018
Venue: Museum and Exhibition Complex of the Russian Academy of Arts
           19 Prechistenka street, Moscow

The Russian Academy of Arts in partnership with the Embassy of Bulgaria and Bulgarian Institute of Culture in Moscow present the major retrospective of works by the celebrated Bulgarian artist Svetlin Rusev entitled “Svetlin Rusev. Painting. Sel ected Works. 1988-2018”. The exhibition features more than 50 works by the Bulgarian master, icon painter, figure of culture and art collector showcasing the main stages of his creative work.

The artist’s multi-figured compositions, portraits, landscapes, monumental paintings are a result of his constant searches for the spirituality and relentless attempts to philosophically comprehend the reality. The special expressiveness of his works has a strong impact on the emotional perception of the viewer. The homey and trivial things obtain a sense of something fatal. The prosaic and everyday episodes are consonant with the intonation of severe poetry. His plain air paintings lead us through empty paths, through bare fields under the dark sky, down the long and deserted roads ascending the gloomy horizons. In his figurative compositions the artist often refers to the most critical events in our history. At the same time, his work includes many canvases full of joy and hopes.

Svetlin Rusev was born in Plevna (Bulgaria) in 1933. In 1959 he graduated fr om the Academy of Arts in Sophia where he majored in painting under Professor Dechko Uzunov. Since 1975 Rusev has been the Professor of the Academy of Arts, In 1973-1985 headed the Artists’ Union of Bulgaria and in 1985-1988 was a Director of the National Gallery. In 1985 Svetlin Rusev presented as a gift to his native city his collection of Bulgarian, African and Oriental art which became a core of the gallery named after the donator. Along with the artist’s numerous easel works Rusev has created monumental wall paintings for the Cathedral of St. Andrew and St. Elena in California, icons and frescoes for the church of St. Paraskeva in the village of Rupite where the master implemented his innovative concept of religious art.

Svetlin Rusev is an Academician of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Corresponding Member of Kunstlerhaus (Vienna),  Member of the Flemish Royal Academy (Belgium), Honorary Member of the Russian Academy of Arts, Member of the Italian Medici Academy, member of the autumn salon D’Oton (Paris) and Nika-Kai Foundation (Tokyo).
The work of Svetlin Rusev is internationally recognized. He is a laureate of many prestigious honors and awards in art. His works are in collections of the National Art Gallery in Sophia, major art museums and private collections in Bulgaria, as well as in Moscow, Paris, London, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Aachen, Stockholm, Munich, Hamburg, Prague, Bonn, Hamburg, Berlin, Hessen, Rome, Bucharest, Warsaw, Dresden, Athens, Brussels, Frankfurt am Main, Miami, Chicago, Vienna, Koblenz, Budapest, Beijing and in art collections and galleries in Netherlands, Japan, Sweden, Greece, Argentina, Venezuela, Cuba, Italy, Portugal, etc.





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