“Mohammedanka” – bronze, 47/23/28 cm, inv. number IV51, National Gallery Fund
An early work by Viktor Todorov, concerning the female image – a theme widely represented in his work. The purity of the form implies the young author’s hidden bias towards not being tied to the dogmas of academic requirements – and that happening in a period almost immediately after graduating from the Art Academy.
The approach to the plastic solution of the work is highly modernist, almost “futuristic”. There is lightness, freshness in the artistic statement and the “flowability” of the form is felt. The absence of hair, which in this case is under the headscarf, helps the hyperbole. The overall impact of the facial features is enhanced.
The work was purchased by the Ministry of Education and Culture in 1962 for BGN 600.00.
Photo credit: Milko Dobrev, chief curator at the National Gallery.
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