Ivan Georgiev - Rembrandt

Ivan Hristov Georgiev – Rembrandt is a significant Bulgarian painter, representative of independent movements in painting during socialism and the first years of transition; associated with abstract expressionism. Despite his vast creativity, he did not hold a single exhibition during his lifetime.
He was born on September 11, 1938 in Sofia. In the years 1948 - 1963, Ivan Georgiev, together with his parents, brothers and sisters, was deported to the village of Kovachevtsi.

In 1966 he graduated from the Higher Institute of Fine Arts "Nikolai Pavlovich" in the class of Prof. Panayot Panayotov. He works mainly with oil paints on canvas or cardboard, watercolor, tempera, ink, mixed media on paper. His work spans multiple styles, from figurative compositions, through impressionistic landscapes, portraits and still lifes, to various forms of abstract painting. Since he never showed his works to a wide audience, it is difficult to trace periods in his work. The majority of his works are privately owned in various collections and entire stages of his work are poorly known.

For the first time, his paintings were exhibited by the curator and collector Maximilian Kirov as part of a collective exhibition in 1995, a year after the artist's death. The most extensive, retrospective exhibition of the artist's works took place in April 2008 at the Sofia City Art Gallery.