Over 30 self-portraits are featured in an exhibition of talented Bulgarian artist Ioan Leviev. He departed from this world relatively early, at the age of only 59 years, yet leaving behind a legacy of bright and memorable works. The exhibition is organized at the idea of his daughter Ioana Levieva-Sawyer and the place is the Sofia City Art Gallery. The occasion is the 80th anniversary since the artist's birth. Leviev worked in various genres: figural compositions, still lifes, portraits, and landscapes. His self-portraits are numerous, but not all fit within the genre. Ioan Leviev built his image also in monumental works, easel paintings, and drawings, both seriously and often with self-irony. More from Stanislava Nikolova, curator of the exhibition:

"The exhibition features his earliest self-portrait painted in 1953 during his studies at the Art Academy and also one of his last ones called Family self-portrait painted in 1993. Visitors have the opportunity to see how the artist sees himself, how he develops his art in his works. The exhibition involves many galleries of the country. A special research was carried out to get hold of all of his self-portraits. So these galleries contributed works from their collections to make this a comprehensive project. Also there are works owned by the Leviev family as well as one privately owned - a drawing which also presents his image."

In fact, only three of the works displayed in the exhibition fit in the classic interpretation of the word "self-portrait". But we can see the artist as a participant in a crowd scene, such as the painting titled Nestinarka (Fire-dancer), property of the Bourgas gallery. Or amidst the charm of the Plovdiv Old Town, which appears very often in his paintings. In works such as Memories, he makes a collage of photos from his childhood.

"The exhibition features works from several of his key cycles. One of them is called “Royal Times” which began in the 1980s”, says Stanislava Nikolova. “There are works created in the 1990s where we can see the image of Leviev sometimes as the jester, sometimes as the king, observing what is happening around. In his self-portraits there is an underlying philosophy and a perception of depth. Any visitor can feel it, strongly and clearly. Another interesting cycle is "The Song of Solomon". It was created in Paris and is owned by the family of the artist. In it, he accepts the image of King Solomon, but also of a satyr. And yet he is clearly recognizable and watching us from his paintings."

Ioan Leviev received many awards for his work during his lifetime. Since 1960 he participated in all exhibitions of the Union of Bulgarian Artists. His works have been displayed in the collections of Bulgarian art in Paris, Brussels, Tokyo, Moscow, Milan, New York, Mexico, Vienna, Budapest and other cities.

English Rossitsa Petcova

Photos: Taken by Veneta Pavlova from the exhibition