National Gallery for Foreign Art
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The National Gallery for Foreign Art (Bulgarian: Национална галерия за чуждестранно изкуство, Natsionalna galeriya za chuzhdestranno izkustvo) of Bulgaria is a gallery located on St Alexander Nevsky Square in the capital city of Sofia and serves as the country's national institution for foreign (i.e. non-Bulgarian) art. It is situated in the imposing 19th-century Neoclassic edifice of the former Royal Printing Office built between 1882 and 1884 during the rule of Knyaz Alexander Battenberg after a project by Austrian architect F. Schwanberg.[1]
The gallery was founded on 5 November 1985 as the art gallery of the Sts. Cyril and Methodius Foundation, its stock being collected by donations, as well as by the addition of the National Art Gallery's foreign art section.[2]
The gallery's permanent exposition features European, Asian (Buddhist, Japanese and Indian) and African art, as well as separate contemporary art and engraving sections.
Among the artists featured in the collection are Italian Renaissance painter Rosso Fiorentino, Dutch and Flemish artists Jan van Goyen, Nicolaes Pieterszoon Berchem, Isaac van Ostade, Frans Francken II, as well as Auguste Rodin, Ivan Meštrović, Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Marc Chagall.[2]
The gallery's current director is Georgi Lipovanski.[2]
[edit] References
- ^ The municipal buildings from the Liberation until 1920 (Bulgarian). Sofia Municipality website. Retrieved on 2006-07-24.
- ^ a b c Bulgarian National Gallery for Foreign Art website (Bulgarian and English). Retrieved on 2006-07-24.
