site.btaVaska Emanuilova's Dual Artistic Identity Shown in Anniversary Exhibition

One of the most significant figures in Bulgarian sculpture, Vaska Emanuilova (1905-1985), will be featured in an exhibition in Sofia. The show will present her as the subject of portrait paintings who was an inspiration for many Bulgarian artists, and as a portrait sculptor, the Sofia City Art Gallery (SCAG) said on Friday.

This is one of a series of events celebrating her 120th birth anniversary. It will be held at the Vaska Emanuilova Gallery, a branch of SCAG, from December 16, 2025, until February 22, 2026, under the title "Images and Reflections | Vaska Emanuilova – Between Model and Sculptor."

Throughout her life Emanuilova was not only an artist but also a model, SCAG said. Her colleagues were attracted not only by her striking appearance but also by her talent, bold character and determination, combined with gentleness and spirituality. In their works they would seek her inner world in harmony with the visible. Painted by Ivan Nenov, Iliya Petrov, Stoyan Venev, Lyuba Palikarova, Karl Yordanov, Svetlin Rusev, Nenko Balkanski, Ruska Marinova, Donka Konstantinova, Georgi (John) Popov, Aleksandar Stamenov and many others, she became the centre of a visual story in which the individual and the artwork reflect one another.

"These portraits are a kind of visual diary – a witness to the time, the path and the significance of the artist. As a character in works of art, Vaska Emanuilova becomes a mirror of her era – the image of the woman-creator, caught between the intimacy of the gaze and the symbolism of the time in which she exists. Within her coexist the stability of form and the vulnerability of emotion, the discipline of the sculptor and the softness of human presence," the organizers said.

The team noted that in her work Emanuilova often returned to portrait sculpture. She used it as an instrument for dialogue between the sculptor and the model. A careful observer and empathetic creator, the sculptor shaped with delicacy and depth the images of people from her closest circle – the actor Porfiriy Velkov, the poet Nikolay Khrelkov, the pianist Teofana Kalcheva, and the artists Georgi Mashev, Iliya Petrov, Vasil Stoilov and Boris Eliseev. Her works remain profoundly human yet at the same time possess a universal value, turning the genre of portrait sculpture into a space for exploring identity and memory.

The exhibition serves as a conclusion to the anniversary year in which SCAG has presented diverse perspectives on Vaska Emanuilova’s work – from archival and documentary studies to contemporary interpretations of themes developed by women artists.