The Most Famous
PAINTERS from Bulgaria
Top 3
The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Bulgarian Painters of all time. This list of famous Bulgarian Painters is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.
1. Jules Pascin (1885 - 1930)
With an HPI of 58.11, Jules Pascin is the most famous Bulgarian Painter. His biography has been translated into 24 different languages on wikipedia.
Julius Mordecai Pincas (March 31, 1885 – June 5, 1930), known as Pascin (pronounced [pas.kin]; erroneously French: [pas.kɛ̃] or [pa.sɛ̃]), Jules Pascin, also known as the "Prince of Montparnasse", was a Bulgarian artist of the School of Paris, known for his paintings and drawings. He later became an American citizen. His most frequent subject was women, depicted in casual poses, usually nude or partly dressed. Pascin was educated in Vienna and Munich. He traveled for a time in the United States, spending most of his time in the South. He is best known as a Parisian painter, who associated with the artistic circles of Montparnasse, and was one of the emigres of the School of Paris. Having struggled with depression and alcoholism, he died by suicide at the age of 45.
2. Anton Ažbe (1862 - 1905)
With an HPI of 55.88, Anton Ažbe is the 2nd most famous Bulgarian Painter. His biography has been translated into 25 different languages.
Anton Ažbe (30 May 1862 – 5 or 6 August 1905) was a Slovene realist painter and teacher of painting. Ažbe, crippled since birth and orphaned at the age of eight, learned painting as an apprentice to Janez Wolf and at the Academies in Vienna and Munich. At the age of 30, Ažbe founded his own school of painting in Munich that became a popular attraction for Eastern European students. Ažbe trained the "big four" Slovenian impressionists (Rihard Jakopič, Ivan Grohar, Matej Sternen, Matija Jama), a whole generation of Russian painters (Ivan Bilibin, Mstislav Dobuzhinsky, Igor Grabar, Wassily Kandinsky, Dmitry Kardovsky and Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin, to name a few), Serbian painters Nadežda Petrović, Beta Vukanović, Ljubomir Ivanović, Borivoje Stevanović, Kosta Miličević, and Milan Milovanović or a Czech painter Ludvik Kuba. Ažbe's training methods were adopted by Beta and Rista Vukanović when they took over Kiril Kutlik's atelier and school and by Russian artists both at home (Grabar, Kardovsky) and in emigration (Bilibin, Dobuzhinsky). Ažbe's own undisputed artistic legacy is limited to twenty-six graphic works, including classroom studies, most of them at the National Gallery of Slovenia. His long-planned masterpieces never materialized and, according to Peter Selz, he "never came into his own as an artist". His enigmatic personality blended together alcoholism, chain smoking, bitter loneliness, minimalistic simple living in private, and eccentric behaviour in public. A public scarecrow and a bohemian socialite, Ažbe protected his personal secrets till the end, a mystery even to his students and fellow teachers. The public transformed the circumstances of his untimely death from cancer into an urban legend.
3. Vladimir Dimitrov (1882 - 1960)
With an HPI of 46.28, Vladimir Dimitrov is the 3rd most famous Bulgarian Painter. His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.
Vladimir Dimitrov — the Master (Bulgarian: Владимир Димитров — Майстора) (1 February 1882 – 29 September 1960), was a Bulgarian painter, draughtsman and teacher. He is considered one of the most talented 20th century Bulgarian painters and probably the most remarkable stylist in Bulgarian painting in the post-Russo-Turkish War era.
Pantheon has 3 people classified as painters born between 1862 and 1885. Of these 3, none of them are still alive today. The most famous deceased painters include Jules Pascin, Anton Ažbe, and Vladimir Dimitrov. As of April 2022, 1 new painters have been added to Pantheon including Vladimir Dimitrov.
Deceased Painters
Go to all Rankings
Jules Pascin
1885 - 1930
HPI: 58.11
Anton Ažbe
1862 - 1905
HPI: 55.88
Vladimir Dimitrov
1882 - 1960
HPI: 46.28
Newly Added Painters (2022)
Go to all RankingsWhich Painters were alive at the same time? This visualization shows the lifespans of the 3 most globally memorable Painters since 1700.
