Iconographer Atanas Kavrakov 1941

Dobri Dobrev painted ‘Iconographer Atanas Kavrakov’ using muted tones and visible brushwork; I can almost smell the paint in the air! The painting shows an artist within an artist—Kavrakov at work, surrounded by ethereal figures emerging from the canvas behind him. I imagine Dobrev watching Kavrakov, considering how each brushstroke animates the divine. The colors seem earthy and grounded which brings the weight and intimacy of the scene forward. Look at how the hand holds the brush, there is a steady, knowing confidence to it. This small gesture speaks volumes. There is a conversation happening here. I think about how artists learn from each other, and how Dobrev might have been thinking about art history, and how that relates to his own work. Painters engage in an ongoing dialogue, each artwork a response to what came before, each stroke an effort to find something true within the act of painting.