The Teacher

10 Декемрви 2013 - 28 Февруари 2014

Mihail Krustev with students
9×14 cm; Hristina Katranushkova-Koleva collection

Curators: Ramona Dimova, Lyuben Domozetski and Teodor Iliev
Project Manager: Plamen V. Petrov

Artist of the small size format, excellent portraitist and good landscape painter, Mihail Krustev, although living and working in the period between the two world wars, turned out to be related to art in Bulgaria in the first decade of the XX century. In the times of active and diverse artistic life Krustev stands somewhat detached from both the impact of secession, and the influence of expressionism and Neue Sachlichkeit. His works are not a turning point in art, but they are lyrical, unpretentious, spontaneous and light - exciting today, too. Maybe their charm lies exactly in their simplicity.
Mihail Krustev, the first art teacher of the patron of the gallery Vaska Emanuilova, was born in the town of Pirot. He is brother of Dr.Krustyo Krustev - one of the most prominent figures in the sphere of culture during the Third Bulgarian Kingdom, and founder of the circle Thought. Having completed his primary education in Sofia, he headed to Berlin, where he studied Architecture, and later on Graphics at Universität der Künste Berlin. Not finishing his education, he returned to Bulgaria and joined the National School of Drawing in the special painting course of Yaroslav Veshin. Despite his solid artistic training, he never wholly immersed in the world of art, but devoted himself to the teacher calling. He taught his first drawing lessons to Vaska Emanuilova, Vera Lukova, Boris Angelushev and many other prominent Bulgarian artists. He was never able to realize his solo exhibition. That is why this exhibition is the first ever attempt to fully illuminate and research the artistic heritage of one of the pioneers in Bulgarian graphic art - Mihail Krustev.

The exhibition includes works from the collections of the Sofia City Art Gallery, the Bulgarian National Museum of Fine Arts, Plovdiv City Art Gallery, Gallery - Kazanlak, National Literary Museum – Sofia, and Hristina Koleva private collection.

The curators of the exhibition thank Prof. Krasimira Koeva, Ivan Kyuranov, the team of Archives State Agency, and the organizers of the project Student Practices, funded by the Operative Programme Human Resources Development, co-financed by the European Social Fund.

Messemvria, the Bishopric
Pencil, gouache on paper, 19х23 cm
Hristina Katranushkova-Koleva collection

Portrait of Pencho Slaveykov
Ink on paper, 9х14 cm
Sofia City Art Gallery

Geo Milev
Ink on paper, 5х3,5 cm
City Art Gallery – Plovdiv

Dimotika
Aquatint, 21 х 17 cm
National Museum of Bulgarian Art