Boris Georgiev

Boris Georgiev was born in 1888 in Varna, a Bulgarian town on the Black Sea. When he was very young he moved with his family to St. Petersburg where he began his studies at the School of Design. Between 1909 and 1910 he went to Munich where he attended the Academy of Fine Arts. In this German city he came into contact with the symbolist lexicon and it was here that he produced his first works, already characterized by visionary imagery.

He continued his nomadic journey, traveling to France, Spain and North Africa with the desire to connect with the spirituality of the places and the people who lived there.

The painter’s first trip to Italy was in 1912, when he decided to complete his training by enrolling at the Academy of Florence. In the Tuscan city he came into contact with Renaissance artists who would have a strong influence on his artistic language. In fact he connected with the simplicity of Giotto’s technique, pervaded by spontaneity and communicative power.

He then moved to Valsugana with his sister Katya, a place in the mountains where he lived like a hermit and created works steeped in esotericism and symbolism.

With the outbreak of the Great War they returned to Florence, but Katya died here and this tragic event led the painter to undertake a meditative journey to Abruzzo where he filled his canvases with a panicky sense of connection with nature. This pantheistic vision can be seen in the drawing Ecce Homo or Wandering Shepherd.

In 1914 he painted Universal Pain, a canvas depicting a wounded deer that becomes a metaphor for the world at war. Another emblematic painting is The Tramp and his Sister, where his self-portrait appears in the face of the nomad, while that of his recently deceased sister is in the guise of his guiding spirit.

His works are characterized by a delicate design that recalls Leonardo’s sfumato, and by a light and transparent color application.

The painter participated in two editions of the Venice Biennale: in 1926 he presented Massimo Gorki, The Sella family of S. Gerolamo, Madre e figlie, Madonna and Facce russe; in 1942 he exhibited Il dott. Eugenio Morelli, La contessa A.G.N., La signora B.M., Mia madre, La principessa Nilufar di Haiderabad, Autoritratto con la sorella, Rabindranath Tagore, Il Senatore Simonetta. He therefore dedicated himself more and more to portraiture: his drawing style became more decisive and his language was charged with atmospheres close to the lexicon of Magical Realism.

After meeting the photographer Vittorio Sella, the painter started traveling again. In the 1930s he stayed in India where he became even closer to Eastern mysticism, met Gandhi and painted his portrait. The beautiful Symphony in the Moonlight over the Himalayas is also a result of his Indian experience.

After a period in Brazil, he finally returned to Italy. He painted until the end of his days, which came in 1962 in Rome. It was in the eternal city that his last exhibition had been organized in 1961 at Palazzo Barberini.

His drawings and pastels have been sold for prices ranging from 1000€ to an auction record of 19,000€. His oils have been sold for prices ranging from 4000€ to an auction record of 12,500€.