Ken Munsie: 241. Interiors at the National Gallery

Sofia is shaping up to be a bit of an "art and architecture" experience - even for this seasoned gallery visitor ... !!! ... With a four week stay in this beautiful city, I doubt that my legs are going to get me around to visit all the sights on my list ... Below is a map of just the art galleries on offer - not to mention the museums, churches, gardens, buildings of interest etc ...

So taking a deep breath and blindfolded, I pin the tail on the gallery and choose a visit to the National Art Gallery for my first Sofia art experience ...

The National Art Gallery houses over 50,000 pieces of Bulgarian art and occupies most of the historic and very grand edifice of the former royal palace of Bulgaria. The national collection was established in 1934 and moved to the palace in 1946, after the abolition of the monarchy and the establishment of a Communist government in Bulgaria.

The original idea for a national gallery had been planned for many years and between 1934 and 1941, Bulgaria's first female architect Victoria Angelova's design was built to house both a renaissance and contemporary art collection. The building was finished and opened in 1942, but was completely lost in a WW2 1944 bombing – then after the war and the abolition of the monarchy the royal palace was chosen to house the collection. Fortunately, all of the paintings the original building had housed were preserved, and together with the royal art collection already exhibited in the palace formed the stock of the National Art Gallery.

The Palace was constructed in two stages, the first lasting between 1880 and 1882 during the rule of Knyaz Alexander Battenberg, when Austro-Hungarian architects worked on the building. The second stage, during Knyaz (later Tsar) Ferdinand’s rule saw the completion of the palace as it now stands.

... and who can resist a "mirrored-selfie" on the grand staircase

framed between the flags of the EU and Bulgaria ... !!!

INTERIOR

This interesting exhibition is dedicated to the genre of the Interior and includes works from the National Gallery’s collection of several generations of some of the most prominent names in modern and contemporary Bulgarian painting. The exhibition is divided into several thematic sections: the interior of the atelier, still life in interior, the human figure, and the portrait in the interior. The lighting in the gallery was not the best for photography – some of the photographs are very grainy – but never-the-less here are a few of my “favourites” from the exhibition …