The exhibition Georgi Baev. Horizons is part of the Generations Program of the Dechko Uzunov Art Gallery, a branch of the Sofia City Art Gallery that strives to promote the life, creative work, and teaching activities of the great Bulgarian artist Dechko Uzunov. 2024 marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of Georgi Baev (1924–2007), one of Dechko Uzunov’s most talented students. On this occasion, the Sofia City Art Gallery is presenting an exhibition of the artist’s paintings created in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s that are part of the gallery’s collection.
Georgi Baev’s life and creative path were connected with his native Burgas. He spent his entire life in the city, invariably linking his work to the sea horizon. In Baev’s landscapes, the horizon is beyond the place where the sky meets the sea. It is that line that separates and gathers, that opens space and transports one to a different state. Exceptionally productive, he had already reached a mature stage in his work in the 1960s, with his works characterized by a densely painted brushstroke and a noticeable preference for cool tones.
Georgi Baev (nicknamed “Dzhurlata”) graduated from Burgas Boys’ High School in his hometown, where his teacher was the artist Petko Zadgorski. His neighbour and close friend was the artist Genko Genkov, who convinced him to apply to the Art Academy in Sofia. He was admitted to the painting major in the class of Prof. Iliya Petrov and Prof. Dechko Uzunov.
As soon as he graduated from the Art Academy in 1949, Georgi Baev became a laureate of the VI World Youth Festival in Moscow. Later, in 1961, he received a silver medal at the First National Youth Exhibition in Sofia, which was emblematic for the development of Bulgarian art. He organized his first solo exhibition in Sofia and Burgas three years later, in 1964, which was followed by exhibitions in London in 1972 and in Budapest in 1973, and by many more exhibitions in Bulgaria and abroad. He also participated in a number of collective, national, and international exhibitions. He was the recipient of the prestigious Gottfried von Herder Prize from the University of Vienna, awarded to him in 1986.
Georgi Baev’s oeuvre was scarred by his studio burning down on the night of June 12, 1983, when he was a guest on the program “Every Sunday,” broadcast on National Television. As a result of the conflagration, more than 250 pieces, the bulk of his mature work, were completely or partially burned.
Nedyalko Yordanov’s film Georgi Baev – “Dzhurlata” (1989) will be presented as part of the exhibition.