Ivan Vukadinov

Ivan Borisov Vukadinov (; 19 March 1932 – 22 September 2024) was a Bulgarian painter. Considered "one of the greatest of Bulgarian artists," he was one of the 25 artists selected for the monograph series published by the National Endowment of the Arts. Vukadinov resurrected an encaustic technique used in ancient Egypt for making Fayum mummy portraits. Vukadinov was the first Bulgarian artist whose work has been acquired by the Vatican Museums.

Career Vukadinov originally trained in plein-air landscapes and still-life paintings, but his style soon changed to a minimalism of expression, dense colouration and a figurative constructivist approach to explore the influences of the past on present consciousness and national aesthetics.

Following an exhibition in Rome, the purchase of two paintings by the Vatican was blocked by the Bulgarian government on the grounds that Vukadinov paintings are "a National treasure". He was honoured by the city of Pisa, which presented him with the Key to the City of Pisa. In his painting cycles Matter and Time I and II, Vukadinov used the motifs of the Egyptian mirror and of Coptic or Maya textiles to express spiritual values.

The artist, deeply disappointed by the refusal, made a vow to never exhibit his works in Bulgaria again. It wasn't until 2006, that Vukadinov returned to the artistic scene in Sofia, with exhibitions at Gallery Rakursi. Vukadinov's painting thus became the first work by a Bulgarian artist to enter the Vatican Museums. The art historian and director of the Vatican Museums, Barbara Jatta, said that this represented "an important moment in the relations between the Holy See and Bulgaria... Certainly, the message of Vukadinov's work is strong, bright, in which the sacred shines through; a message about art and faith". which features his painting "In Memory of Heroes" and pays tribute to Vukadinov's artwork becoming part of the Vatican Museums' collection. The Bulgarian Ministry of Culture organized a ceremony to validate and launch the stamp, coinciding with the artist's 90th birthday celebration. The stamp was designed by Stoyan Dechev.

Vatican Museums: Celebration of the first 50 years of the Collection of Modern and Contemporary Art (1973–2023) Vukadinov's painting was chosen as one of the ten artworks showcased in the special exhibition across the Vatican Museums, commemorating the significant milestone for the institution in 2023.

Biography Mostra personale for Ivan Vukadinov's exhibition at Galleria Marguttina 51, Roma in 1975. Vukadinov trained at the National Academy of Art in Sofia as a student of Nenko Balkanski (1961–1964). By 1963 his work was shown in group art exhibitions in Bulgaria, and internationally in Russia, Latvia, France, England, Italy, and Austria. He had solo exhibitions at Rakovski 125 Gallery, in Sofia, now 'Rajko Aleksiev', and at Margutina Gallery in Rome in 1975. These were followed by joint exhibitions with Olga Belopitova in 1977–1978 at the Museum of Fine Arts in Grosseto, the Palazzo Gambacorti in Pisa, and Haus Wittgenstein in Vienna. in 2022, The Golden Feather ("Златно Перо") for his "indisputable contribution to Bulgarian culture and art" (2021), and others.

Vukadinov died on September 22, 2024, Bulgaria's Independence Day, at the age of 92.

Selected works Portrait of Juliana (1960) Knight’s Move (1970) Interior with Etruscan Hunting Dog (1970) In Memory of Heroes (1971) Sugar Factory (1976) Stone Walls (1976) Blue Fish (1980) Golden Chess (1980) Matter and Time cycle (1976–1980) Mediaeval Bulgaria cycle (1976–1979) Earth Fault (1990) Harvest (~2005)