Drawings, Prints and Paintings

3 September – 11 October 2026
Opening: 3 September, 6:00 PM

In 2026, we mark the 120th anniversary of the birth of Veselin Staikov (1906–1970) – one of the significant figures in 20th-century Bulgarian art, whose name is inextricably linked to the development of Bulgarian printmaking.

Regarded as one of its pioneers, Staikov remains far less familiar to the wider public as a draughtsman and painter. During his lifetime, his paintings were rarely included in his exhibitions. Yet drawing and painting occupy an essential place in his creative process and often preceded the creation of his graphic works.

This lesser-known aspect of his artistic legacy is one of the key focuses of From Bulgaria to the World, an exhibition at the Ruse Art Gallery.

From his hometown of Peshtera, through Italy, Prague and Paris, to distant China, Veselin Staikov’s journeys trace a distinctive geography of his art. The foreign city, architecture, landscape and people do not remain merely memories of places visited. They pass through the artist’s gaze and sensibility and return as drawing, print or painting.

Of particular importance was his period of specialization in Italy between 1940 and 1942. In 1940, Staikov studied painting in Florence under Professor Felice Carena at the Accademia di Belle Arti, worked in Venice and stayed in Rome. In 1942, he returned to Italy to complete his interrupted specialization.

His post-war travels expanded Staikov’s artistic map. Prague appears in his lithographs from 1956, while Paris is captured in drawings and paintings.

Among the most powerful testimonies to his encounter with the wider world is his journey to China. Drawings, woodcuts, lithographs and paintings trace what he saw and experienced. His journey by steamboat along the Yangtze River from Chongqing to Wuhan, described by the artist in a letter dated 25 February 1958, became an encounter with the unfamiliar scale of nature and culture. The Chinese series demonstrates how immediate impressions were transformed through different artistic techniques – from drawing to printmaking and painting.

The works presented in the exhibition come from the Veselin Staikov Family Collection, preserved by his descendants. Safeguarded over the decades, first by the artist’s wife, Milka Staikova, and subsequently by the following generations, these works embody both the artist’s history and the personal memory of the man behind them.

Thus, From Bulgaria to the World tells not simply the story of where Veselin Staikov travelled, but how the artist looked at, remembered and transformed what he saw. Drawing preserves the immediacy of the first impression, painting explores colour, light and atmosphere, while printmaking distils the image.

Presented together, the works reveal a more complete Veselin Staikov – not only a pioneer of Bulgarian printmaking, but the artist behind the print.

On 3 September at 6:00 PM, the exhibition will be presented by Radoslav Staikov – the artist’s grandson and a representative of the family that continues to preserve his legacy today.

The exhibition will be on view at the Ruse Art Gallery until 11 October 2026.