Ivan Dimitrov (1850 – 1944), “Portrait of Maria Hadjistoilova”, 1881

Dimitrov, Ivan Dimitrov Kanchev – born on March 10, 1850. in Tryavna – died on 02.02.1944 in Sofia. He is the twelfth child of the colorful priest and painter Pop Dimitar Kanchov. He received his first painting lessons in his father’s studio. He then studied for four years in Bucharest and three years at the Academy of Fine Arts in Paris. In 1879, he arranged an exhibition in Paris and thus became the first Bulgarian to exhibit his works in the Paris salons. In 1885, having made a name for himself, the renowned artist returned to Bulgaria. The first solo exhibition of a Bulgarian artist after the Liberation in the halls of the National Assembly belongs to him. Ivan Pop Dimitrov paints secular paintings, mainly portraits, urban landscapes, rural life. His name became a symbol of innovation and academicism in Bulgarian art after the Liberation. In Sofia, in 1944, the studio and his works were destroyed.