A large-scale idea - that is how we can define the exhibition "Image and Likeness," which opens today at the National Art Gallery. It features nearly 80 self-portraits of Bulgarian artists. The idea belongs to Nikolay Nedelchev - collector and patron of arts. Here's what he says in an interview for Radio Bulgaria:

"When a few years ago one of my very close friends - cult painter Kolyo Karamfilov, with whom we maintained a close relationship, often invited me to his studio to see his new production, I regularly walked away with one or two, sometimes more pictures of his. And at one point I found myself with a mini-collection of 15-16 of his works. Until then I had no collector's ambitions. But this collection somehow unlocked the collector inside me. As a beginner, I was quite eclectic. People tend to collect all sorts of things without a clear focus. At one point, I thought that maybe there should be some individual highlights in my collection. And around that time I bought a triptych of Vihroni Popnedelev - with three self-portraits which can be seen here. A little later I got also a self-portrait of Svilen Blajev. So inside me the idea was born that the self-portrait would be one of the highlights in my collection. And I decided to make a collection of self-portraits."

The interesting thing here is that the collection is not filled in the usual way: you are looking for a certain work, you want to see it, make an evaluation and buy it. Nikolai Nedelchev, however, decided to contact the authors liked. He negotiated with each of them to make a self-portrait. He paid them an advance, and when the work was ready, he paid and took it. "Actually, I did not see in practice what I would get in the end but the name of the artist was a guarantee for me. And, as you can see, there are great works of the artists whom I have attracted," said the patron. Some artists were recommended by the famous Bulgarian painter acad. Svetlin Rusev. Most young artists did attend the exhibition with a recommendation from the curator Nadia Timova. However, her thesis at the Art Academy was dedicated to the self-portrait in Bulgarian painting.

"Modern collectors in Bulgaria prefer the old masters”, she said. “We all know who they are. Something that I find a bit risky because these are authors who are not known abroad. And yet they hold relatively high prices in Bulgaria, which to me is somewhat paradoxical. From my perspective Nikolai Nedelchev is rather unprecedented. I do not know other Bulgarian collectors, except maybe one or two who buy contemporary art but of contemporary internationally acclaimed artists, big names. I had the rare chance to be recommended and subsequently approved as associate who gives opinion on whether an author is good, why they are considered to be good and why their works deserve to be purchased. Even it has come to trends, although trends in contemporary art for young artists are very difficult to discuss. "

Often self-portraits are associated with brushes, easels, signs that confirm the affiliation of artists to art. In Nikolai Nedelchev's collection self-portraits of this classic type are only two. One is of the doyen of Bulgarian art Lyuben Zidarov. "I grew up with his illustrations of children's books. The other self-portrait is of Plovdiv artist Rumen Zhekov who turned to the minimalist abstract forms. For me, for example, his work is quite curious as a fact," notes Nadia Timova. And here's more from her about Nikolai Nedelchev's idea:

"When I was invited to join his project, there was already a list of 30-40 names of established Bulgarian artists. I personally, maybe due to the fact that I lived for some time abroad, am strongly interested in the most modern forms of art, so I suggested to him to add to the list of those authors also the names of the representatives of the youngest generation of artists. And I think young authors presented more interesting things."

English Rossitsa Petcova

Photos: National Gallery