DIMITAR RADKOV – THE CENTRE-HALF
/18.05.1944 – 15.01.1982/
Born in the city of Rousse, Bulgaria, Dimitar graduated the Fine Art College in Sofia, Bulgaria. His short, ascetic life was consumed by two passions: painting and football. He played as a center-half in the football teams of CSKA U19 Sofia and Lokomotiv Rousse.
On the surface, his was an uneventful life: as cliched as it may sound, it was a relentless struggle for physical and spiritual survival in a harsh environment. His intense oils, graphics, and water colours attest to a strive to overcome the challenges of art and life.
A free spirit and an immense talent, he lived and painted in the wrong place and at the wrong time. In his lifetime, he was denied any opportunity to exhibit his art. The grip on art of the totalitarian regime posed an insurmountable barrier to this unorthodox, nonconformist artist, in terms of uninhibited communications with admirers of his art, and with fellow artists. For Dimitar, that barrier was raised only once – with the regime’s “permission” for a posthumous exhibition in 1986 in his native city of Rousse.
The joy of being close to him, and of sharing in his personal and artistic world, was cut short because of his premature death. The void he left is painful and difficult to bear, even after decades since he passed away.
For us today, it is a moral imperative and a privilege to present this virtual display of Dimitar’s art, and make it available to art enthusiasts.
Dimitar’s family and friends