An exhibition that delves you deeper into the world of Dechko Uzunov

[[MC]Ronin[MC]]

An exhibition that delves you deeper into the world of Dechko Uzunov

The exhibition shows her works created between 1920 and 1943.

2019 marks the 120th anniversary of Dechko Uzunov's birth.

In this case the gallery "Dechko Uzunov" presents one of the important figures in the life of the artist - Masha Zhivkova-Uzunova: wife, model and artist.

The exhibition shows her works created between 1920 and 1943, works by Dechko Uzunov related to her image, as well as documentary photographs that preserved the memory of their life together.

In the early 1920s, the Academy of Arts was where two life destinies intersect.

Born on October 28, 1903, Masha Vladimirova Zhivkova is one of those representatives of the gentle gender who boldly goes in search of her place in the arts. The desire for her gives her the opportunity to meet Dechko Uzunov. The meeting turns out to be important for both of us.

For Uzunov, communication leaves them with such lasting traces in his mind that even then he creates his work "Portrait of Masha". In 1923 Masha Zhivkova left for Germany, where she is already Dechko Uzunov. The two artists specialize in the Munich Art Academy. The time spent there together is special. The topic of art is also a way to get to know them in a personal way.

Abroad, they forge friendly relationships that remain lifelong with theaters, writers, architects, and more.

A small part of the people they interact with are: Olga Kircheva, Svetoslav Slaveykova, Chavdar and Fanny Mutafovi, Nikolai Liliev, Elisaveta Bagryana and others. Once settled in Bulgaria, they marry. The next two decades are fraught with many challenges, but also with the opportunity to leave a mark in the history of Bulgarian art.

The press is filled with commentary on their work, which the critics follow through their solo performances and general art exhibitions in which they participate. For Masha Zhivkova-Uzunova, they are complemented by the impressions she has produced with the Section of Women Artists of the Society of Women with Higher Education. By the mid-1940s, Dechko and Masha Uzunovi had become one of the most iconic artistic couples in the Third Bulgarian State.

The works have been collected by art galleries in Burgas, Kazanlak, Plovdiv, Sliven, Sofia City Art Gallery and individuals. The documentary photographs were taken from the CDA and the photo archive at the Scientific Archive of Dechko Uzunov Art Gallery.