The exhibition "Georges Papazoff – From the Gueorgui Vassilev Collection – 90 Years Later" opened on May 6 at the Josip Račić Gallery. On this occasion, Branko Franceschi, Director of the National Museum of Modern Art, gave a welcome address to the guests. Art historian, critic, and curator Maria Vassileva emphasized that the selected works from the Gueorgui Vassilev Collection belong to different creative periods of the artist and reveal Papazoff’s artistic explorations, experimental spirit, and expressive visual language.
Gueorgui Vassilev, the collector who has been living and working in Switzerland for over thirty years, expressed a deep personal connection with Georges Papazoff’s life journey. “Like ‘prodigal sons’, both he and I left our families and homeland in search of a wider world — a path marked by curiosity, risk, and transformation,” he said, adding: “I admire Papazoff’s courage and consistency. His refusal to conform, his defense of creative freedom, and his drive to break boundaries continue to inspire me. He was an artist who went beyond the expected — and stayed there.”
The exhibition was officially opened by H.E. Ms. Iva Nikolaeva Kruleva, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Bulgaria to the Republic of Croatia, who noted in her speech:
“Tonight, Papazoff’s works are being exhibited in Zagreb for the third time. The first occasion was his solo exhibition held from December 17, 1934, to January 4, 1935. At that time, the Modern Gallery acquired his painting 'Light Bearers', which was exhibited again in 2015 by the National Museum of Modern Art in Zagreb as part of the ‘In Focus’ cycle. The goal of the project was to showcase particularly important works from the museum’s collection that are little known or completely unknown to the public and were acquired during the initial exhibitions held in 1934 and 1935 at the Vranyczany Palace, the original home of the Modern Gallery.”
She concluded: “Once again, I thank everyone who made it possible for us to experience in person the paintings of the Bulgarian artist Georges Papazoff, a 'very distinctive, original, great artist, whose art has been accepted as a ‘separate branch of modern art,’ as Oskar Kokoschka described him in 1935.”
The opening was also attended by H.E. Mr. Urs Wolfgang Friedrich Wilhelm Hammer, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Swiss Confederation to the Republic of Croatia.
Zagreb’s cultural audience will have the opportunity to visit the exhibition of Bulgarian painter Georges Papazoff at the Josip Račić Gallery until June 1. Alongside works from the Gueorgui Vassilev Collection, the exhibition also features the oil painting Light Bearers from 1929, part of the holdings of the National Museum of Modern Art in Zagreb.
The exhibition is supported by the Ministry of Culture and Media of the Republic of Croatia and the City of Zagreb’s Department of Culture and Civil Society. A bilingual Croatian-English catalogue featuring a text by Maria Vassileva accompanies the exhibition, with graphic design by Ana Zubić.
Sponsor: HP – Croatian Post d.d.

Photo: Goran Vranić, National Museum of Modern Art, Zagreb