The first private art salon in Sofia was called the Permanent Art Gallery and was established in the spring of 1910 by the young entrepreneur and painter Trapko Vasilev. The enterprise soon gained prominence as the Trapko Gallery. Its existence spanned between 1910 and 1944. Trapko did not spare his enthusiasm, energy and support for the modern Bulgarian art in the interwar period. Running the gallery according to European standards Vasilev managed to build up an important artistic centre of the capital Sofia. Hence it would not be misleading to state, that Bulgarian art history of the period could be restored through the traces of activity of Trapko’s unique private initiative.

The current exhibition includes 28 artworks. Among them are works authored by famous painters who held their shows at the Trapko Gallery – Nikola Tanev, Bencho Obreshkov, Boris Denev, Alexander Mutafov, Atanas Mihov, Petar Morozov, Konstantin Shtarkelov, Vassil Zakhariev, Doncho Zankov, Petar Ouroumov and others.

Another part of the exhibition is devoted to the painterly and artistic work of Trapko Vasilev himself. Having committed himself fully to the artists and painters, being a patron, a strong proponent of their interests and an art manager, he actually never lost his creative impetus. Inspired by the beauty of Bulgarian nature, Trapko Vasilev authored a considerable amount of landscapes. Some of them are today part of the collection of the Sofia City Art Gallery.

The exhibition at the Vaska Emanouilova Gallery is part of a commemoration program for the 110th anniversary of the creation of the Trapko Gallery. It was preceded by an open-air documentary exhibition which could be viewed during the summer months in the “Kristal” park in Sofia. A detailed monography, authored by Assoc. Prof. Blagovesta Ivanova, PhD, who is the exhibition’s curator as well, is about to be published as a separate volume.

In the process of the organization of the exhibition were also involved: The National Library, the Regional Museum of Sofia, the National Literature Museum and “Charta – Publishing and Gallery”. Photographs and archival materials were provided by the Central State Archives and the web blog “Old Sofia”.