Tsanko Lavrenov Permanent Exhibition

In 2001, the second floor of the building at 11 Artin Gidikov St. housed the permanent exhibition of one of the most famous Bulgarian artists, Tsanko Lavrenov. 55 paintings from different periods of work are on display.

The Tsanko Lavrenov Permanent Exhibition is displayed on the second floor of the restored Revival period house of the merchant custom-built in 1845-1846. It is a two-storey symmetrical building, with a central dual side stone staircase and a portico supported by oak columns above it. There is a long hall with a wooden ceiling with oval rosettes ad a decorative interior. 

Tsanko Lavrenov was born in Plovdiv, on 24 November 1896, and was given the birth name Alexander-Stephan. He received a good education at St Agustine French Catholic College in his hometown. Even from a very early age, he decided to pursue art. In 1921 and 1922 he had drawing lessons in Vienna. It was in the Austrian capital that he encountered modern European art. He gradually developed his own, original style, based on icon-painting technique. His first significant appearance was in 1923, when he participated in an exhibition in Plovdiv with 8 paintings. Over the following years, he visited Italy and met Pope Pius IX. He travelled around Greece and spent a few months in Mount Athos. The impressions he gained strongly influenced his work. As a member of the Native Art Society, Tsanko Lavrenov created works distinguished by continuity of the tradition of Bulgarian Revival period painting and strong interest in landscape and our ancient architecture. He would often paint Old Plovdiv, the monasteries of Mount Athos, and the Rila and the Rhodope mountains. Lavrenov also wrote about other artists and described his creative path in his book On the Streep Path (1968). He died on 10 October 1978 in Sofia. Today, the National High School of Arts in Plovdiv is named after him.