Georgi Bozhilov-Slona Permanent Exhibition

In 2003, a permanent exhibition dedicated to the work of the famous Plovdiv artist Georgi Bozhilov – Slona (The Elephant) (1935-2001) was displayed in the Skobelev House, in the Old Town. Оne of the facades of the house is decorated with a commemorative panel - painting and mosaic, designed by Dimitar Kirov.

 Since 2017, the Permanent exhibition of Georgi Bozhilov - Slona has contained 26 paintings from the collection of the City Art Gallery of Plovdiv. The house where the exhibition is displayed is the restored home of Kostadin Kaftandzhiyata (the kaftan maker), a prominent Bulgarian from Stara Zagora. It was built in 1860.

After the Liberation, Olga Skobeleva (1823-1880), the mother of General Mikhail Skobelev, lived in it until her death. She was known for her charity work for Bulgarian people, who suffered from the Turkish atrocities during the April Uprising and the Russo-Turkish War of Liberation.

Georgi Bozhilov – Slona ( The Elephant)

Georgi Yordanov Bozhilov was born on June 13, 1935 in Plovdiv.

In 1959 he graduated from National Academy of Arts -Sofia with a degree in“ Decorative and Monumental Painting ” in the class of Prof. Georgi Bogdanov. In the same year he participated in the First International Biennial of Young Artists, held in Paris. Since 1960, his works have been selected for general art exhibitions of the Union of Bulgarian Artists. During his lifetime he made over 25 solo exhibitions in Bulgaria and abroad.

Together with the artists Encho Pironkov, Dimitar Kirov, Ioan Leviev, Kolyu Vitkovski, Hristo Stefanov and Georgi Boyadzhiev - Boyadzhana formed the so-called "Plovdiv School of the 60s". He works mainly in the field of easel painting, in the genres of portrait, landscape and figural composition. He also created some monumental applied works for institutions in Plovdiv: frescoes in the National Library "Ivan Vazov", mosaic in the Central Post Office, sgraffito in front of the Permanent Exhibition of the City Gallery of Fine Arts - Plovdiv at 14A Saborna Street, on the walls of private and public buildings.

Georgi Bozhilov died in a car accident on May 30, 2001.