Pencho Georgiev (Bulgarian: Пенчо Георгиев; 1 February 1900,

Vratsa Vratsa ( ) is the largest city in northwestern Bulgaria and the administrative and economic centre of the municipality of Vratsa and Vratsa district. It is about north of Sofia, southeast of Montana. Situated at the foot of the Vrachanski Bal ...

– 2 April 1940,

Sofia Sofia is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain, in the western part of the country. The city is built west of the Is ...

) was a Bulgarian painter,

scenographer A scenographer or scenic designer, also production designer, is a person who develops the appearance of a stage design, a TV or movie set, a gaming environment, a trade fair exhibition design or a museum experience exhibition design. The term ori ...

and illustrator, especially of children's books.

Biography

His father died in the

First Balkan War The First Balkan War lasted from October 1912 to May 1913 and involved actions of the Balkan League (the Kingdoms of Kingdom of Bulgaria, Bulgaria, Kingdom of Serbia, Serbia, Kingdom of Greece, Greece and Kingdom of Montenegro, Montenegro) agai ...

when he was only twelve. After the end of World War I, he moved to Sofia to study arts and crafts. In 1925, he graduated from the

National Academy A national academy is an organizational body, usually operating with state financial support and approval, that co-ordinates scholarly research activities and standards for academic disciplines, and serves as a public policy advisors, research ...

with a degree in "Applied and Decorative Arts" and began working as a set designer.Brief biography
@ OMDA. His first project was '' The Queen of Spades'' by

Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer during the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music made a lasting impression internationally. Tchaikovsky wrote some of the most popular ...

at the

Sofia Opera The National Opera and Ballet () is a national cultural institution in Bulgaria that covers opera and ballet. It is based in an imposing building in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. The first opera company in Bulgaria was founded in 1890 as part of ...

. He stayed there for two years before moving on to the State Theater (known as the Dohodno Zdanie) in Ruse. In 1929, he moved to Paris, where he copied the works of the

Old Masters In art history, "Old Master" (or "old master")Old Masters De ...

while making woodcuts and etchings. Later, he collaborated with the Russian painter

Konstantin Korovin Konstantin (Constantin) Alekseyevich Korovin (; 11 September 1939) was a leading Russian Impressionist painter. Biography Youth and education Konstantin was born into a wealthy merchant family of Old Believers

to create set decorations for productions of several Russian operas. He remained in Paris until 1932. Upon returning to Bulgaria, he began illustrating books and creating interior designs for homes, as well as working on a number of public projects, creating over thirty set decorations at the Opera and the

Ivan Vazov National Theatre The Ivan Vazov National Theatre (, ') is Bulgaria's national theatre, as well as the oldest and most authoritative theatre in the country and one of the important landmarks of Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. It is located in the centre of the c ...

. His paintings were done mostly in

watercolor Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (Commonwealth English; see American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin 'water'), is a painting metho ...

s and

pastel A pastel () is an art medium that consists of powdered pigment and a binder (material), binder. It can exist in a variety of forms, including a stick, a square, a pebble, and a pan of color, among other forms. The pigments used in pastels are ...

s. His illustrations included some for the first works by

Maxim Gorky Alexei Maximovich Peshkov (; – 18 June 1936), popularly known as Maxim Gorky (; ), was a Russian and Soviet writer and proponent of socialism. He was nominated five times for the Nobel Prize in Literature. Before his success as an aut ...

published in Bulgarian. He also participated in many exhibitions, including the Salon d'Automne and the

Milan Triennale The ''Milan Triennial'' (Triennale di Milano) is an art and design exhibition that takes place every three years at the Triennale di Milano Museum in Milan, Italy. History The exhibition was originally established in 1923 as a biennial architect ...

. In 1940, while working on decorations for ''

Salammbô ''Salammbô'' is an 1862 historical novel by Gustave Flaubert. It is set in Carthage immediately before and during the Mercenary Revolt (241–237 BCE). Flaubert's principal source was Book I of the '' Histories'', written by the Greek hist ...

'' at the National Theater, he slipped and fell to his death down an elevator shaft on stage.

Selected works

Image:Pencho Georgiev Paris - rolling quarter.jpg , Temporary Encampment in Paris (1931) Image:Pencho Georgiev All Souls' Day.jpg ,

All Soul's Day All Souls' Day, also called The Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed, is a day of prayer and remembrance for the faithful departed, observed by Christianity, Christians on 2 November. In Western Christianity, including Catholic Church, ...

(1927) Image:Pencho Georgiev Parisian neighborhood.jpg , Parisian Neighborhood (1931) Image:Pencho Georgiev In front of the temple.jpg , In Front of the Mosque (1930s)

References

External links

Pencho Georgiev as an illustrator of children's books
with examples @ Kultura.
110th Anniversary Exhibition in Ruse
@ Darik News.
Audio biography
from the Sofia City Art Gallery @

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Georgiev, Pencho 1900 births 1940 deaths 20th-century Bulgarian illustrators Bulgarian children's book illustrators Bulgarian scenic designers People from Vratsa Deaths from falls 20th-century Bulgarian painters 20th-century Bulgarian male artists Bulgarian male painters

Biography

Selected works

References

Further reading

External links