Before becoming the author of “Brezovo Shepherds“, “On the Field“ and “Nestinari“, Zlatyu Boyadzhiev was a student at the Commercial High School in Plovdiv. His father sent him there in the hope of choosing a secure profession, but young Zlatyu was attracted to painting. He was born on October 22, 1903 in Brezovo, into a poor agricultural family, and later turned rural labor, the people and the landscape of his native land into the main themes of his art.
His first “academy“ was not Sofia, but the artistic life of Plovdiv. His name appears on graphic drawings as early as 1926. At that time, he worked in the atelier of Geo Mirchev's firmopis - a place where young people attracted by art met. There he became close to Vasil Barakov and David Perets. The three later received the nickname The Baraks, and their friendship became one of the important circles in Plovdiv's artistic life.
The journey that changed his painting
Zlatyu Boyadzhiev graduated from the Academy of Arts in Sofia in 1932 under Professor Tseno Todorov, after which he worked as a teacher in Plovdiv. A significant turning point in his development occurred in 1939, when he specialized in Italy. There he encountered pre-Renaissance and Renaissance art directly. His travels were not limited to Italy - visited galleries in France, the Soviet Union, Romania, Yugoslavia and Poland. These impressions are felt in his early compositions, portraits and landscapes.
The first period in his work is associated with precise drawing, clear composition and interest in everyday life. Among the significant works from this time are “Portrait of the Artist's Father“, “The Artist's Mother“, “Brezovski Shepherds“, “In the Field“, “Harvest“, “Swinemaid“, “Mini Pernik“ and “Brigadiers“.
The painting that divided his life in two
In 1951, Zlatyu Boyadzhiev suffered a stroke. The right half of his body is paralyzed, and he also loses his speech. For a man whose life is connected with the brush, this seems like the end of his career. However, the artist starts over again - first with small signs and exercises, and then with drawings and paintings, now with his left hand. In 1953, he again paints landscapes of Old Plovdiv.
The fate of the “Batashka Massacre“ is particularly important. The large canvas was started before the stroke, but the last parts were executed after it with his left hand. The work becomes a material sign of the change in the artist's life and style.
Vasil Barakov later described his teacher as a man who had "penetrated most deeply into the eternal movement of time through his inner insight." After 1951, Boyadzhiev's paintings became more expressive, saturated with unusual images and crowded scenes. Among his late works are "To the Slaughterhouse," "Stalpotvorenie," "Apocalypse," and "Firecrackers." The artist died on February 2, 1976, but the two different faces of his work continue to be seen as parts of a complete artistic biography.
Sources: archives.bnr.bg, bta.bg, old-news.bnr.bg