Softcover
1950 · Sofia, Bulgaria
by Videnov, Vasil (Editor)
Sofia, Bulgaria: Direktsiya na pechata, 1950. Softcover. Good, clean and tight but with general shelf wear. Fold mark from entire magazine being folded in half horizontally. Covers separating at spine in two places.. Red, portrait-illustrated paper wraps with white lettering (front cover in French; back in Bulgarian). [48] with 2 color plates and numerous duotone illustrations. Text in Bulgarian, French, Russian, and English. This specific edition is about art. Portraits of Stalin (a wise choice that time) and Lenin grace the front and back covers. The inside of the front cover features a quote, about art, by Geoigi Dmitriov, first Communist head of Bulgaria (1946 to 1949, when he died in Russia) and a portrait of him on the page opposite, by Buglarian artist, Boris Mitov. Featured are additional portraits, wood carvings, paintings, scluptures, and more by Bulgarian artists; each work well-annotated.. Each section (Sculpture, Applied Arts, etc.) is introduced with a lovely Bulgarian graphic on parchment. The main text is written in each language and titled XXI General Art Exhibition. The English version begins thus: "During the dark years of fascist oppression, our art greatly degenerated. The bourgeoisie despises the objective laws of social development; it fears them because they point to its own downfall. For precisely this reason it fostered the kind of art which denied objective reality or represented life in a distorted way, which suited the exploiting class..." This volume is both scarce and valuable for both artistic and historic reasons.
(Inventory #: 155069)