Yanaki Manassiev

Place: Varna

Born: 1932

Death: 1978

Biography:

Yanaki Manasiev was a Postwar & Contemporary artist born in Varna, Bulgaria in 1932. He died in 1978. Manasiev was known among his contemporaries as a bold experimenter and innovator who introduced new themes and visual devices in 1960’s and 1970’s art, an era characterized by the effort to shed the dogma of socialist realism. He was one of the most prominent Bulgarian artists of the second half of the 20 th century, yet he remains relatively unknown to the wider public, especially the younger generation. During his short life, he created work whose bulk, diversity and quality are quite impressive. Humans and their complex spiritual and emotional world were the main focus of his work. His most preferred genres were portraiture and figure composition, landscape painting being of minor interest to the artist. Manasiev was equally interested in painting and graphic art, creating plenty of powerful graphic artwork cycles. The woman, with her complex feelings, was one of his favorite subjects.