The Maglizh monastery 1924

Ivan Milev painted this view of The Maglizh Monastery with oil on canvas. The artist would have stood before the subject squinting, editing, deciding what to keep and what to leave out. There's something very grounded about this place with the red tiled roofs, the green dome, and the flowering trees. It’s a place of refuge. It's quite a decorative and yet rugged landscape. The artist must have felt a deep connection to this monastery, maybe even a spiritual bond. He wanted to capture the essence of this special place for himself and for us. He may have returned to it many times. The way Milev uses color and form reminds me of other painters, but with a folk art simplicity and naive optimism. Artists like Milev show us that painting can be a form of embodied expression, a way of connecting with the world around us, and of preserving a vision for future generations.