PLAIN-AIR PAINTERS

Exhibition of Lokal and International Artists
Plain-air works from the collection of the Art Gallery – Ruse

13 January – 31 January 2026

The present exhibition features artists who were active during the 1970s and 1980s. At that time, organized plein-air painting workshops were held in Ruse and its surroundings—along the banks of the Rusenski Lom and the Danube rivers. These events provided a legal way for local artists to engage and communicate with artists from abroad.

In the second half of the 1980s, a transition toward freer artistic expression began, preceding the political changes of 1989.

It is also important to note the shifts in state cultural policy from the 1970s to the 1980s, when such (still controlled) events influenced the development of artists from different generations.

Later, during the 1990s, the impact of these plein-air workshops on the artistic development of Ruse-based artists became especially evident. New artistic movements entered the scene dynamically, and artists began to seek their own paths amid the transition from one social system to another. Some turned toward commercialization, while others remained faithful to their creative pursuits.

The exhibition offers an authentic narrative of these decades, marked by intense creative contradictions.

Although accompanied by skepticism, this period in art represents a transition toward free artistic expression and undoubtedly influenced subsequent generations of artists in Ruse.

1 December 2025                                                                                                                                               G. D. Georgiev

Curator of the exhibition