Biography

Daria Vassilyanska is a Bulgarian artist.

1928 Daria Vassilyanskа was born on 28 November in Varna.

1955 She graduated from Porf. Iliya Petrov’s painting class at the National Academy of Art, Sofia.

1959–2017  She took part in all national and regional exhibitions of the Union of Bulgarian Artists.

2017 Daria Vassilyanskа died on 4 December in Varna

She was a free-lance artist in the sphere of easel painting, scenography, monumental-decorative murals and applied art.

Solo exhibitions

• 1974 BWA Sopot Gallery – Gdańsk, Poland
• 1975 Exhibition Hall at 65 “Knyaz Boris I” – Varna
• 1975 “Lamartin” House – Plovdiv
• 1976 “Shipka” 6 Gallery of the Union of Bulgarian Artists – Sofia
• 1977 Art Fest – Oreshak
• 1998 “The Ladies, the Ladies up on Stage” – “Art 36” Gallery, Sofia
• 1998 Jubilee Exhibition – City Art Gallery, Varna
• 1999 “Sundry Pictures” at “TED” Gallery – Varna
• 1999 “Daria’s Cats” at “Georgi Velchev” Art Museum – Varna
• 2000 “Little Landscapes with the Sea” at “Gallery 8” – Varna
• 2001 “Madonnas” at “Gallery 8” – Varna
• 2001 “Grimaces and Smiles” at “Georgi Velchev” Art Museum – Varna
• 2002 “Madonnas” at “Art 36” Gallery – Sofia
• 2002 “Greetings, Bearers of Culture!” at “Gallery 8” – Varna
• 2003 “The Threepenny Exhibition” at “Gallery 8” – Varna
• 2004 “Seaside” at “Dyakov” Gallery – Plovdiv
• 2004 “Old-fashioned Exhibition” at “Artin” Gallery – Varna
• 2006 “Looking at Things More Beautiful” at “Artin” Gallery – Varna
• 2008 “With These Ones I Feel Fine” – Jubilee Exhibition at City Art Gallery, Varna
• 2008 Exhibition at “Zlatyu Boyadzhiev” Museum – Old Plovdiv
• 2014 “Smiles and Grimaces” at City Art Gallery, Varna
• 2016 “Paper Pictures” at City Art Gallery, Varna
• 2016 “Daria’s Cats – Second Hand” at the Architect’s House, Varna
• 2017 “In memoriam” at City Art Gallery, Varna
• 2018 Jubilee Exhibition commemorating 90 years from her birth at City Art Gallery, Varna

Participation in international exhibitions

• 1976 International Biennial of Painting– Košice, Slovakia, Art Fair – Göttingen, Germany, International Triennial of Realistic Painting – Sofia
• 1981, 1983, 1985,1989, 2001, 2003 International Biennial of Humour and Satire – Gabrovo
• 1996 International Triennial of Painting – Sofia
• 2000–2014 Biennial of Visual Arts August in Art – Varna
• 2004 Balkan Quadrennial of Painting “Myths and Legends of My People” – Stara Zagora

Participations in representative exhibitions of the Union of Bulgarian Artists abroad

• 1961 Budapest, Hungary
• 1967, 1973, 1979, 1984 Odessa, the Ukraine
• 1969 Braila, Romania; Turku, Finland
• 1970 Warsaw, Poland
• 1974 Moscow, Russia; Vichy, France
• 1983 Berlin, Germany
• 1985 Kuwait
• 1993 Tokyo, Japan

More significant participations in general exhibitions and competitions

• 1972, 1974, 1978 General Art Exhibition “Friends of the Sea” – Burgas
• 1978, 1979 General Art Exhibition “The Drawing” – Sofia
• 1982, 1985 General Art Exhibition “Small Format” – Sliven
• 1983 General Art Exhibition “Drawings and Figurines” – Sofia
• 2003 “The Jazz of Optimists” – “Rayko Aleksiev” Gallery, Sofia
• 2005 General Art Exhibition “Portrait” – “Shipka” 6 Gallery, Sofia
• 2007 General Art Exhibition “Traffic” – “Shipka” 6 Gallery, Sofia
• 2008 Exhibition “National Competition Allianz Bulgaria” for painting, sculpture and prints
• 2013 Seventh National Exhibition “Art Collages” – Plovdiv
• 2014 “Then and Now” – representative exhibition of 30 renowned Bulgarian painters at Shipka 6 Gallery, Sofia
• 2016 “Visual Chronicles/Nine Portraits of Painters” – Sofia City Art Gallery

Scenography

She is the author of the scenography of 10 theatre performances in the theatres             of  Varna and Shumen:

• 1955–1956 “Funny Stories” after Cervantes’ interludes, staged by Stancho Stanchev, “Vasil Drumev” Drama Theatre – city of Shumen
• 1956–1957 “Cinderella” by Charles Perrault, staged by Stancho Stanchev, Puppet Theatre – city of Shumen
• 1956–1957 “Father and Son” by L.S.Tirina, staged by Stancho Stanchev, “Vasil Drumev” Drama Theatre – city of Shumen
• 1958–1959 “Goodnight, Patricia!” by  Aldo De Benedetti, staged by Stancho Stanchev, “Vasil Drumev” Drama Theatre – city of Shumen
• 1958–1959 “The Hunchback of Notre-Dame” by Victor Hugo, staged by Stancho Stanchev, “Vasil Drume”v Drama Theatre – city of Shumen
• 1958–1959 “The Phoney Civilisation” by Dobri Voynikov, staged by Stancho Stanchev, “Vasil Drumev” Drama Theatre – city of Shumen
• 1962–1963“The Great Bobby” by Krzysztof Gruszczyński, staged by Stancho Stanchev, “Stoyan Bachvarov” Drama Theatre – city of Varna
• 1962–1963 “Colleagues” by Vasiliy Aksyonov and Yuri Stabovoy, staged by Tsvetan Tsvetkov,” Stoyan Bachvarov” Drama Theatre – city of Varna
• 1964–1965 “So Many Poppies!” by Nikola Rusev, staged by Stancho Stanchev, “Stoyan Bachvarov” Drama Theatre – city of Varna
• 1972–1973 “Seventh Commandment: Steal a Bit Less!” by Dario Fo, staged by Stancho Stanchev, “Stoyan Bachvarov” Drama Theatre – city of Varna

Monumental-decorative works

• 1974 Design for decorative metal grilles and ceramic panels – Dzhanavara, Varna
• 1974 Mural “Harmony” in the foyer of “Chernorizets Hrabar” Primary School, Varna
• 1977 Mural “Shipbuilding” – 250×500 cm – the foyer of Bulgarian Ship Hydrodynamics Centre, Varna

National awards

• 1959 Award of the Ministry of Culture for scenography
• 1967, 1973, 1976, 1998 Award “Varna”
• 1967 Award of the Union of Bulgarian Artists
• 1974 Award of National Art Exhibition “Friends of the Sea”, Burgas
• 1976 Order of Saints Cyril and Methodius, Third Class
• 1978 Order of Saints Cyril and Methodius, Second Class
• 1986 Awards of the 6th National Competition of Sea-related Topics “Man and the Sea”, Varna
• 1998  1st Prize at the Competition “Man and the Sea”, Varna
• 2013 Gold Honorary Medal with Ribbon “For Services to Varna”
• 2015 Award of the Union of Bulgarian Artists

Artistic trips

• 1960, 1967 Russia
• 1970 Japan
• 1974 Poland
• 1975 Italy
• 1976 Greece
• 1977 Czechoslovakia
• 1978 France
• 1985 Denmark, Sweden, Finland

Her works are owned by The National Art Gallery, Sofia City Art Gallery, Varna City Art Gallery, 22 state art galleries in Bulgaria, institutions and private collections in the country and abroad.