Kiril Stanchev

A romantic house immersed in greenery on the banks of the Danube sheltered the world of the old Ruse painter Kiril Stanchev. The whole life of the artist passed by this river from his birth in 1906 until his last breath in the hot August of 1988. For nearly 60 years of creative work, the artist and public figure Kiril Stanchev left a bright mark not only in Ruse's cultural life, but also in the Bulgarian national painting.

A lot of time has passed since the moment when the toddler - second ward painted his first picture - a gem on the Danube bank in winter. His first teacher, the artist Dimitar Radoikov, gave him an impetus to creative development by opening wide the doors of his home for the little boy. An unusual friendship begins, which later develops into a true creative friendship. In 1922, at the insistence of Radoikov, the until then unknown young artist presented himself with 3 landscapes in the exhibition of Northern Bulgarian artists. This is his first participation in an exhibition. His art is already receiving public recognition. The young man's love for painting does not stop there. He went to study in Bucharest, but was expelled for propagating progressive ideas, transferred to the Art Academy in Sofia.Since 1931 until 1936 is a student of Professor Nikola Marinov, Tseno Todorov and Stefan Ivanov. Having inherited from them creative honesty and a spirit of elevated artistry, he seeks new paths without betraying his innate sense of nature. A year after graduating from the Academy, Kiril Stanchev organized his first solo exhibition in Sofia, which, to his surprise, was opened by the writer Elin Pelin at the insistence of Professor Nikola Marinov. This was followed by a number of solo exhibitions and group exhibitions in the capital and other cities in the country. He returned to his hometown and devoted himself entirely to art. During the years of the Second World War, he was often entrusted with the decorative layout of productions in the Ruse Drama Theater. He works closely with directors Tacho Tanev, Alexander Ikonomov, Georgi Stamatov and others. His successes in the field of scenography are indisputable. In his mature age, the artist arranged a free training course for children and adolescents in his studio, and later for the rest of his life - to the "Zora" and "Maxim Gorky" community centers, where with solid training they entered the art schools in Sofia, Kazanlak and Tryavna, as well as in the Academies in Sofia and Veliko Tarnovo. Forever restless, forever in denial, he continually asserts: "To be true to yourself requires strong character, conviction and will." And his paintings deny the perishable death of the creator - they have no age, because they reflect the spirit of an eternally young lover of life. His friends were Kiril Tsonev, Iliya Petrov, Elin Pelin, Dechko Uzunov, Nenko Balkanski, Asen Vassilev, Corneliu Baba, Boris Karadzha and others.