За една неизвестна творба на Георги Попов-Джон в Балчик
About an Unknown Work by Georgi Popov-John in Balchik

Summary/Abstract: The article acquaints us with the identification and importance of an unpublished up to now work by the artist Geori Popov-John found in Balchik - a portrait of the Russian director Sergei Vasiliev, painted in 1955 by the artist. At the end of the 40s of the 20th century John Popov, who is dedicated mostly to painting, is forced to ‘resort’ to other media. Disappointed by the imposed normative aesthetics and by stigmatization of serious art as formalistic, he seemingly leaves painting and finds salvation as an artist in the theater and cinema. He is the art director of one of the first films of the new Bulgarian cinema -Under the Yoke (directed by Dako Dakovski in 1952), The Heroes of Shipka (directed by Sergei Vasiliev in 1955), Two Victories (directed by Borislav Sharaliev in 1956), Legend about Love (directed by Vaclav Krshka in 1957) and Accidental Con­ cert (directed by Kosta Naumov in 1960). When he created the portrait of S. Vasiliev John Popov was one of the artists working on the film The Heroes of Shipka. During the 50s John continues to paint and is one of the few artists that did not change their style. During this last decade of his life he makes a number of portraits. Among those is the portrait of Sergei Vasiliev for which again he is accused of formalism - something quite typical for the 50s in Bulgarian art which fact has a negative effect on his fate and creative work.

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