Zlatka Dubova. Short illustrated bio-bibliography

(1927 – 1997)

  ​​​l. AN ATTEMPT AT A PORTRAIT

 ​​ ​​​​  I did not know Zlatka Dubova's work well until her individual exhibition in 1985 as the winner of the Grand Prize awarded to her at the previous, 1983, Second International Biennial of Graphic Art in Varna. She was an active working artist and participated with works in all general and group exhibitions of the Union of Bulgarian Artists, had personal exhibitions abroad and awards, but a personal exhibition gives an opportunity to look more closely at the artist. And until then Zlatka Dubova had never had a solo exhibition.

 I only really became acquainted with her large and varied oeuvre when I started working to help support the only still working, albeit without its most important part - the lithographic part, the Graphic Base of the Union of Bulgarian Artists in Sofia.

 ​​ ​​ ​​​​ At the beginning of 1992, I was no longer an expert in the Ministry of Culture, I had no responsibilities for the international and national initiatives of Varna, Dobrich and Shumen, but my colleagues, after 20 years of working together, continued to call me whenever a problem arose. And the problems - of all kinds - veginning with the refusal of the state to think about culture, including the creative unions, reflected negatively on the attitude of the new municipal leaders to the cultural sector. The carelessness, and illiteracy of the new leaders of the Ministry of Culture (with the exception of twoⁱ, unfortunately - short-lived) to make a thoughtful transition of culture from full state support to market conditions - the transition was a shock. The creative unions lost their income-generating activities and enterprises, putting their survival to the test; but they were also stripped of their functions in the process of managing artistic life - both at national and regional level. As a result, the decisions, with few exceptions, were - unprofessional, often - corruptⁱⁱ, and sometimes - in fulfilling a specific political order - with long-term irreparable damageⁱⁱⁱ.

 With the exception of the preservation sphere - the monuments of culture and part of the dissemination sphere (national and municipal cultural institutes), the whole sphere of creation was still under "market conditions" by the end of 1992, as well as a considerable part of dissemination. To put it another way, nearly 70% of the creators and a large part of the performing artists were put out of work - in the apparent absence of any "arts market" and a sharp decline in cultural consumption.

 ​​ ​​ ​​​​ It was a very difficult time for the artists who had to support themselves and invest in the works they created, which until then had been the responsibility of the Union of Bulgarian Artists and the Ministry of Culture.

 The liquidation of the system for the distribution and sale of artists' work without an art market doomed not only visual artists but also other guilds to vegetate, as the country was experiencing a deepening economic crisis and unemployment, which at the stage excluded the possibility of creating an art market. ​​ 

 ​​ ​​ ​​​​ The problems were even worse for the graphic artists than for their colleagues from other genres, because not only the Union could no longer participate in the organisation of the Varna International Biennial of Graphic Arts, ​​ but also because the well-equipped 17 Graphic Bases, of which 15 in the country, started to close their doors. Meaning that Bulgarian printmakers can no longer create enough new works to participate in the competitive periodic exhibitions around the world - the biennials and triennials, including the Varna one. The few printmakers who had a lithographic press and large-format lithographic plates, without the participation of an umdruker in their realization, could create far fewer works^iv. And few in numbers. This is the most significant loss for contemporary Bulgarian fine art, and not only because it limits their participation in international periodical competition forums, including the Varna one.

 ​​ ​​ ​​​​ So I was not surprised when my question to prof. Hristo Neykov and Simeon Venov (both of them - long-time secretaries of the Graphic Arts Section and Vice-Chairmen of the Union, and Hristo - Chairman): can the Union help to save the Biennial in Varna, Simeon Venov answered me with a question: "And what if we save the Varna Biennial, and there is little Bulgarian participation or representation - no lithographic works, since the second Graphic Arts facility in Sofia is practically closed - we cannot pay the salaries of the umdruker for the lithographic studio, which is the most important thing?"

 ​​ ​​​​ Thus, it eventually became clear to me that if I care about the Varna Biennial, for which I have been working since its first edition - I have to help to make the Graphic Base in Sofia fully operational, since most of the graphic artists work and live in the capital, without which the Bulgarian participation, however good quality, will be several times smaller than the previous ones. ​​ For this reason - only a month later I was already with a registered company - INTERART, with a contract with the Union of Bulgarian Artists for the conditions of my participation in the maintenance of the Graphic Base in Sofia, and with a second contract - for exhibitions in Bulgaria and abroad with works by members of the Union.

 ​​ ​​ ​​​​ This is how my daily work began, mostly with the schedules, and I was able to see a significant part of Zlatka Dubova's works in her studio. I was extremely impressed by their volume and variety, as well as their quality.  ​​ ​​​​ 

 ​​ ​​ ​​​​ To my question - why she did not do individual exhibitions, Zlatka Dubova replied, "By 1960, that is, in the 7th year after graduating from the Academy - when I already had enough works that I was satisfied with and could show to the public and specialists, they elected my husband - Hristo Neykov as a member of the Board of the Union of Bulgarian Artists, and then as the Secretary of the Section "Graphic Art". So he had to sign the decision - to give me an exhibition hall. This would hardly have passed without negative comment. You know him well and you know that in any injustice, no matter to whom, he has no measure of his tongue. But neither do I. I did not wish to inflict this on either of us. I decided to wait for an individual exhibition for the time when he would not be in an administrative position in the Union. So 32 years passed."

 ​​ ​​ ​​​​ For this reason, Zlatka Dubova, who worked hard every single day and had a considerable body of work, made only one exhibition during her lifetime - at the “Seasons” Gallery - together with sculptures by Krum Damyanov. An exhibition so impressive that it became an event in cultural life. One can only regret that it was not filmed.

 ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​​​ The first exhibition I organised (1992), in 2 parts - 40 oil works and 60 graphic works, was exhibited at the 1992 autumn exhibition of the Plovdiv Fair - at the beginning of our most representative pavilion, so that every visitor passed through it - willing or not. Many of the visitors lingered in the exhibition, while others on their way out stopped again in front of the exhibited works.

 ​​ ​​ ​​​​ The selector of the authors and the works was Prof. Dr. Ivan Marazov, who presented Zlatka Dubova with the works with which she was awarded the Grand Prize of the Varna Biennial, black and white, but also with a golden head of a girl, huge (140 x 80), with which the exposition began. Placed so that it could be seen through the huge glass cases, Zlatka Dubova's work attracted visitors who obviously had no intention of entering the chamber, because after viewing the exhibition they left. This was indicative of the power of Zlatka Dubova's work. The exhibition was equally successful at the second presentation of the exposition after the closing of the fair - in Old Plovdiv.

 ​​ ​​​​ Similarly, Zlatka Dubova's diverse graphic works have attracted visitors to all of the more than 60 exhibitions, including 20 abroad, organised by INTERART.

 ​​​​ As she was one of the artists who had nothing to hinder her when she worked, from Zlatka Dubova, in her studio, I learned de previs what I knew in theory in the field of technique in which she was unrivalled - wood engraving, which she always called woodcut. I did not show much interest when Zlatka Dubova was working on lithographic works, as the umdruker in the Graphic Base of the UBA^v was an excellent teacher and enjoyed doing it.  ​​ ​​​​ 

 ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​​​ Once Zlatka Dubova requested me to come to her studio, but to allow at least half a day, because she had promised this to a close relative of mine who had not seen me for a long time. Declaring it a surprise - she refused to answer me. I wondered which of my many relatives might be close to her, not because Rhodope families are so numerous, but because it does not matter if someone is your sister, brother, first or third cousin - all their children are your nephews. But in Shiroka Luka and Stojki, where my grandparents are from, you have to know well who is who in relation to you, because it is obligatory to address them according to their place in the genealogy.

 ​​ ​​ ​​​​ The next day, entering the studio, I saw the following: rolling up the sleeves of their plaid shirts, working on the lithograph were Zlatka Dubova and Kostana Stoeva, multiple absolute champion of Bulgaria for years^vi and an Olympic ski champion. "You're an umdrucker too! And that of Zlatka Dubova!" - gasped I. „Yes, auntie. And I'm a good umdrucker," Kristana answered proudly. Here Zlata gasped, the Auntie, that is mean me, was obviously much younger than Krustana? ​​ Kristana explained that her father and I were cousins, therefore she was my niece and could only address me that way. Here Hristo Neykov, with his unrivalled sense of humour, went off on a tangent about her and my diminutive stature. From then on, when I grumbled against another below-the-waist punch, which was to the detriment of both schedules, they both said, "Auntie, you're a champion, aren't you, and you've got the pedigree - you'll make it."

 ​​ ​​ ​​​​ Shortly after this event a serious problem arose, for the solution of which Zlatka Dubova and Hristo Neykov repurchased two prints, small format, one by Rembrandt (out of a total of eight copies created, one of which I have seen - in the exposition of the Pushkin Museum, Moscow), bought during Zlatka's grandfather's studies abroad; the second - by Goya and a magnificent work by Vasarely. I dismissed it immediately because it was a personal gift from Vasarely to Christo, and a huge one at that, more impressive than the ones we have in the Gallery of Foreign Art. When I came out of the office of yet another banker, having solved the question of the amount of currency needed in minutes, and that only by selling the Rembrandt, and gave her back the Goya (which she liked better), Zlatka Dubova exclaimed, "A Bulgarian banker would pay for a miniature as much as a huge apartment in the center of Sofia costs? Is he either very literate or very close to you?" I answered her that the only remark was that she was buying the work not because it was a Rembrandt, but because she knew who Zlatka Dubova and Hristo Neykov were for Bulgarian art and wanted to solve their problem. As well as seeing him for the first time and that the only thing I know about him is that he is a lawyer and that he worked in foreign intelligence - in Turkey. Back then, in the mid-90s, I didn't know that this banker was the great Bulgarian poet Tsvetan Nachev^vii.

 ​​ ​​​​  Although she was not in an administrative position in the Union of Artists, Zlatka Dubova was often assigned tasks for the benefit of her colleagues - as commissioner/curator of representative graphic art exhibitions of the Union of Artists, which went to her as an undisputed authority in graphic art. But also because - some of her works - from the cycles Motherhood, St. Petka, Vigil and others, besides being an achievement in the difficult technique - woodcut, were accessible to the most unprepared audience of whichever country in the world you choose. ​​ 
 ​​​​ Zlatka Dubova has also contributed to the development of many young graphic artists, who as students were welcomed by Hristo Neykov in both studios and even in their home (located below them). I do not remember Zlatka ever not spending time with them on matters that interested them. And if they stayed longer, as they usually did, because there was always something to learn from them both - not to feed them. When there were so many of them that half sat in the living room and the other in the kitchen, she would fire up her little car and we would go to the Sitnyakovo market for kebabs. But if she sensed a danger that they might get worried and leave - she would take out the salvageable inviolable jar of red caviar and pour it into a package of boiled couscous.  ​​ ​​​​  When one of their countless friends brought someone for a prestigious anniversary gift, Zlatka would open several of the graphic drawers and offer works by Hristo Neykov. For obvious reasons, people generally preferred her work. But she always managed to convince them that the valuable graphics were by Hristo Neykov, and if they bought his work - she would give one of her own. It was reported to Hristo Neykov that they liked his graphics better, to which he laughed heartily, tied a handkerchief on his head and acted out another skit, imitating a female Vakarel peasant, or a gypsy woman praising him to the skies.

 ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​​​ Wife, mother and grandmother, successful in everything, including - to walk the two sheepdogs; a pillar of a family of artists, Zlatka Dubova was an inexhaustible source of ideas for survival and in the most difficult time - she became one for me, too.

 ​​ ​​ ​​​​ When there were not enough sales from the numerous exhibitions for me to pay for the current month's the amount of the five salaries in the Graphic Base (for the two umdruckers, the photographer and the two students who would one day replace them), Zlatka Dubova gave some kind of rescue idea - the printing of wall calendars with the logo of my company INTERART (the work of the great Petar Petrunov), on each of which to mount an original graphic work signed by the artist. Apart from the fact that it is respectable to have a calendar with original artwork hanging in your office, once the year is up - you frame it. Due to the amount of prints, the graphic artists will get a good fee, the calendars - at a manageable price and from the large print run - will be left for the salaries I pay at the Base (to the two umdruckers - as large as those of deputy ministers of culture, according to my contract signed with them, which they fully deserved). Of course the graphic works on the calendars we installed together - in her studio.

 ​​ ​​​​ Zlatka Dubova and Hristo Neykov always had time to communicate with their many friends - writers, directors, artists, doctors... - starting from the young - to professors at the Academy of Arts, Medical Academy...

 ​​ ​​ ​​​​ And these were not formal friendships, but genuine ones. To illustrate, I can only note the following: when Prof. Velichko Minekov was in the clinic of prof. Jerkov (by chance my father, who had just had a surgery, was accommodated on the next bed, and on the first visit I caught him singing Rhodope songs - to keep his spirits up), Hristo Neykov visited him twice a week with news of all kinds and with the food prepared by Zlata. And I do not remember, in the course of several months, that he missed the allowed visiting time. Zlatka Dubova did not come, because "Behind my back they say - bad Zlata, I explain: if Jerov says his leg is fine and he has to walk every day - let him get out of the hospital. He felt dizzy and was about to faint - let him get himself in his hands”. I think the position of the "bad" Zlata did more work than anything else.

 ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​​​ When Valery Petrov wanted to illustrate one of his works for children himself, Zlatka Dubova spent all the time necessary, including working with the photographer in the Sofia Graphic Base - for samples to reduce the drawings to the required format for the book. A process repeated several times to fit the size of each illustration to the text provided for the page. One evening, when the work was finally submitted for printing, Valery Petrov, driving through the deserted streets of Sofia at night, remarked with amazement, "Being an illustrator was not only a great art, but also a great slavery. When I think how many books both Zlata and Icho have illustrated in their lives - I wonder when they found time for the rest of their works. And also - to have a life?"

 ​​ ​​​​ When Zlatka Dubova had to have injections, Valery Petrov did not let anyone else do it, as he was the best at painlessly giving them. And he came every day. Besides - they would have time - to talk. During the last three months of her life, when they had to give her pain injections also at night, Valery Petrov moved in with them.  ​​​​ 

ll. ASSESSMENT ​​

• “One by one, the great ones of the great generation of Bulgarian graphics have left us. The generation that first liberated Bulgarian art from the normative frameworks and sought real commensurability with the plastic and civil problems of its time. Todor Panayotov, Zlatka Dubova, Simeon Venoff - and now Hristo Neykov, are no longer among us.

Today's generation, and especially those who are semi-running after their Europe at all costs - should know that long ago this exceptional generation lived with the spiritual and plastic problems of Europe and Europe accepted them as part of itself.“ ​​ Acad. prof. Svetlin Rusev

● ​​ "Zlatka Dubova adopts from the icon the principle of simultaneity of the event, draws subjects from the great heritage bequeathed to us by our ancestors in churches and monasteries, but is alien to the two-dimensional decorative-planar image.

 ​​ ​​​​  She carves her woodcuts confidently and assertively with an understated freedom and seeming chaotic quality that creates the sense of immediacy so characteristic of her. Her incisor produces rich and sonorous plastic values, complex in execution but spontaneous in perceived texture, aptly finding in the structure of the black and white prints the equivalent of a colorful, colorful reality.

 ​​ ​​ ​​​​ Zlatka Dubova's graphic sheets are populated with characters born from her imagination, an inalienable part of her personal world as an artist in her own right, characters that enrich and complement our perception of the world of reality without mechanically repeating it.

 Their vitality, the explicit, figurative and clear way in which the artist shows them convince us of the importance and durability of her art, repeatedly awarded at national general exhibitions, shown and highly appreciated at international graphic biennales and numerous Bulgarian exhibitions abroad..^viii ​​ Simeon Venov

● "She was known, liked and desired for her world - a fruit of the "uncontrolled" affinity of the Bulgarian for realistic drawing and tradition with its specific, I would say "atavistic" sensibility and decorative aesthetics.
 Why then familiar and unfamiliar? Bulgari Gallery (73 Dondukov Blvd.) presents thirty drawings, monotypes, lithographs, which have been selected to show, on the one hand, the earliest years of Zlatka Dubova (1957-1961), one of Ilia Beshkov's favourite pupils, who also took from the monumentality and clean composition of Kiril Tsonev and the expressive line of Ivan Milev.

On the other hand, the prints included in the exhibition from 1984, which go beyond the taste of the wide range of admirers and mark a high point in this graphic genre forgotten by contemporaries - the black and white print. "On the Shore", "Sea Diary", "Scarecrow" reveal the roots of her creative inspirations - the living cosmogony and mythological system as a feeling in our nation. A world of our ancestors, going away under the onslaught of technical civilization, in which the hero or the heroine was born out of "love with the dragon"...
The earliest engravings still reveal Zlatka Dubova primarily as a good draughtsman, an artist with a fine sense of the colourful combinations in the little-known magnificent monotypes. In the last prints shown in this exhibition, she returns to the purity of the black and white engraving from the St. Petka, made in 1957-1959 and shown in the exhibition. In addition to the technical precision of wood engraving, they reveal a rethinking of tradition from a new perspective.“

Prof. Dr. Axinia Dzhurova

​​ ll. BIOGRAPHY

Zlatka Dubova was born on 5 November 1927 in Pazardzhik.
In 1953 she graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Graphic Arts under prof. She graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in 1953.

She works in various genres - graphics, drawing, watercolor, painting, illustration.

She has performed as a scenographer in the plays "Under the Yoke" by Ivan Vazov and "Aesop" by Guilherme Figueiredo.  ​​ ​​ ​​​​ 

Her achievements in the techniques of woodcut/wood engraving and lithography are undisputed and internationally acclaimed. Preferred themes in Zlatka Dubova's work are childhood, motherhood, images from Bulgarian folklore heritage, history.

 ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​​​ Zlatka Dubova has created hundreds of works for the covers and illustrations of Bulgarian and foreign literary works - classic and contemporary - for adults, children and fairy tales.

● Works by Zlatka Dubova are selected and participate in:

- in all the General Art Exhibitions (since 1953) of the Union of Bulgarian Artists in Sofia, as well as in some of the General Art Exhibitions such as "The Land and the People", Dobrich, etc. ​​ 

- National Art Exhibitions of Illustration and Book Art, Sofia

- in international competitive periodical exhibitions - biennials and triennials of graphic art:

1969 - Ljubljana, Slovenia

1970 - Florence, Italy and Krakow, Poland

1971 - Sao Paolo, Brazil and Berlinareto

1972 - Biella, Italy and Frechen, Germany

1974 - awarded the title of Merited Artist

1981 - Awarded one of four equal prizes at the first International Biennial of Graphic Art` 1981, Varna

1985 - Winner of the Grand Prize at the Second International Biennial of Graphic Art `1983, Varna,

in which 248 artists - 146 Bulgarian and 106 foreign - from 28 countries competed with 900 works from

3 continents - Europe, Asia and America.

● ​​ Zlatka Dubova participated in the representative exhibitions of Bulgarian graphic art in the world, organized by SBH from 1978 to 1989 in:

​​ - Washington, USA;

- Moscow, Russia;

- Bari, Siena and Bologna, Italy;

- Havana, Cuba

- Miskolc, Hungary

- Lisbon; Portugal

- Lima, Peru

- Basel, Cologne and Munich, Germany

- Algeria

- Mexico, etc.

● Works by Zlatka Dubova participate in representative exhibitions "The Best of the International Biennial of Printmaking, Varna" (80 works by Bulgarian and foreign printmakers), organized by INTERART, Sofia:

1995 - in the Regional Art Gallery, Dobrich - works from the 8th Biennial, Varna 1995

1996 - at the Alexander Gallery, Sofia - works from the 8th Biennial, Varna`1995

1997 - in the Exhibition Hall of the Russian Cultural and Information Centre, Sofia, ul. "Shipka" 34 - works from the 9th Biennial, Varna`1997

● Works by Zlatka Dubova are included in Representative Exhibitions of Bulgarian Fine Art, organized by INTERAT, Sofia:

1992 and 1993 - Spain

1993 and 1994 - Austria

1995 - France

1995, 1996, 1999 - Germany

1995 - USA

1996 - Israel

1997 and 1998 - Russia

1996 and 1997 - Norway

1997- Argentina

1997 and 1998 - Jordan

1998 - Dubai

1997 and 1998 - Turkey

Zlatka Dubova's works - part of INTERART's exhibitions have been evaluated by:

1987 - Symposium "Contemporary Bulgarian Graphic Art", organized in Amman, Jordan by the Royal Foundation for Art

1998 - used as an example of achievements in hand printmaking techniques at the Hermitage Seminar, St. Petersburg for art historians from regional state galleries in Russia, held in Saratov.

● Zlatka Dubova is one of the 20 artists selected to create new original graphic works for the Contemporary Bulgarian Graphic Art Series of 20 works for collectors (organized and funded by INTERART in 1993-1996).

For the series Zlatka Dubova created the work "Cradle", woodcut, 47х37, 1994.

 ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​​​ "Cradle", woodcut, 47х37, 1994 ​​ – fragment

 One of the collections of 20 works was bought by the largest and most prestigious private museum of graphic art in Europe - Museum Ludwig, Cologne, the second - for the Art Dialogue Foundation - France.

Most are in private collections - in Bulgaria, Austria, Germany, Spain, Israel, Jordan, Norway, Russia, Argentina, USA, Turkey, France and other countries.

Zlatka Dubova died on 10 May 1995 (aged 69).

● Exhibitions in memory of Zlatka Dubova:

2005 - Exhibition of Zlatka Dubova and Hristo Neykov in one of the salons of Shipka 6 - from the collection of their collector Domenico Russi, at his suggestion (100 graphic works and oil paintings)

2007 - Exhibition of Zlatka Dubova in Gallery "Bulgari"

2014 - "Cracked Earth" - Exhibition of works by Hristo Neykov and Zlatka Dubova - from the Collection of Domenico Russi, (who owns 4000 of their works), presented at the Graffit Gallery - Varna.

(08.08. - 08.09.2014)

2018 - Zlatka Dubova's work is part of the Exhibition "One Hundred Masterpieces from the Fund of the International Biennial of Printmaking, Varna" (of 50 Bulgarian and 50 foreign printmakers), presented during the Bulgarian Presidency of the EU Commission:

 ​​ ​​ ​​​​ - In the Art Gallery, Varna (January 2018),

 ​​ ​​​​ - Regional Art Gallery, Veliko Tarnovo (March 2018)

 ​​ ​​ ​​​​ - The Gallery of the Ministry of Culture (May 2018)

 ​​ ​​ ​​​​ - 2018 - 2020 - Zlatka Dubova's works participate in the exhibition "The Golden Pages of Bulgarian Illustration - Beshkov and his Students", opened in January 2020 at the Art Gallery, Svishtov, which was previously exhibited for almost 2 years in 16 regional art galleries in Bulgaria

 ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​​​ - Zlatka Dubova's works are also on display in the collections of the National Gallery of Art, the Sofia Gallery, the Stanislav Dospevsky Regional Gallery, Pazardzhik, whose exhibition includes 28 works, as well as in regional and municipal state galleries in Bulgaria.

 ​​ ​​ ​​​​ ■ Works by Zlatka Dubova in foreign state museums of fine art:

- A.S. Pushkin Museum in Moscow

- Dresden Art Gallery

- The gallery in Banska Bistritsa

- Gallery in São Paulo, etc.

lll. WORKS

• PRINTMAKING, MONOTYPE, DRAWING, WATERCOLOUR, OILS

• LITOGRAPHIES - from the “Heads” Cycle

● WOODCUT