|
Stretching along the northern side of Ploshtad Aleksandar Batenberg is the former royal palace, which was once so dilapidated that Tsar "Foxy" Ferdinand had to sleep under scaffolding to prevent the roof falling in on him. The palace began life as the Ottoman Konak where Vasil Levski was tortured prior to his execution, before having the current Neoclassical facade tacked onto it by Ferdinand's predecessor, Knyaz Aleksandar. Inside is the National Art Gallery (Tues-Sun 10.30am-6pm; US$1), a fairly uninspiring collection that reveals how dependent on Western models Bulgarian painting has been. The works that stand out are those which heavily exploit the nostalgia for folk styles and motifs: notably Tsanko Lavrenov's pictures of old Plovdiv, and the near-naive canvases of fellow Plovdivite Zlatyu Boyadzhiev. The fusion of modern art and folk art which characterizes the work of Bulgaria's most influential twentieth-century painter, Vladimir Dimitrov-Maistor, is represented by several stylized pictures of peasant girls. Suffused with the aura of Orthodox icon paintings, they're good examples of Dimitrov-Maistor's attempts to attach a mystical quality to his depictions of Bulgarian rural life. Housed in the same building is the Ethnographic Museum (Tues-Sun 10am-5pm; US$1), which mounts a different set of themed exhibitions every year. Whatever's on show, it usually includes a wealth of folk costumes and textiles.
Your Tip for National Art Gallery and the Ethnographic Museum
Help other backpackers! Write your own guides and backpacking tips to National Art Gallery and the Ethnographic Museum - they will appear instantly on this page - Please only write a tip/guide to National Art Gallery and the Ethnographic Museum - visit the main National Art Gallery and the Ethnographic Museum forum to ask a question!
Please do not post links to your site here (they won't work) - please use the National Art Gallery and the Ethnographic Museum webguide section below! Thanks.
| 
