Vidin Art Gallery
Vidin Art Gallery, whose patron is the painter Nikola Petrov, born in the city of Vidin, was founded in 1961. The museum is housed in a representative building in the city center, designed and constructed in 1892 by architect Vărhota as a Military Club, built upon a bastion of the city’s fortress system.
The gallery’s three collections—painting, graphics, and sculpture—contain over 1,500 artworks by Bulgarian and foreign artists. The first works (movable cultural heritage objects) in its collection were acquired from the collections of Mihail Kremen and Bogomil Raynov. These were later supplemented by paintings created in 1962 during an organized plein-air event, which brought together prominent artists from across the country. Notable participants included Stoyan Venev, Panayot Panayotov, Ivan Hristov, Iliya Petrov, and Aleksandar Poplilov.
The graphic arts department of the Vidin Art Gallery holds 45 original graphic prints by world-renowned masters: Rembrandt, Albrecht Dürer, Gustave Doré, Francisco Goya, François Millet, Delacroix, and Théodore Rousseau. The gallery also owns an original work by the world-famous artist Jules Pascin, born in Vidin, as well as a valuable donation of artworks and personal items belonging to the gallery’s patron, donated by his heirs.
The painting collection impresses with works by Ivan Mrkvička, Nikola Petrov, Vladimir Dimitrov – The Master, Zlatyu Boyadzhiev, Dechko Uzunov, Boris Nenov, Sirak Skitnik, Nenko Balkanski, Vasil Stoilov, Boris Mitov, and Aleksandar Petrov. Subsequently, many landscape paintings from several editions of the National Exhibitions dedicated to this genre entered the gallery’s collection. Among them are award-winning works by Nayden Petkov and Ivan Vukadinov, as well as a personal donation from Prof. Nikolay Ruschukliev, who was closely connected to the city of Vidin throughout his life.
The sculpture collection features notable names such as Lyubomir Dalchev, Ivan Funev, and Panayot Panayotov, as well as artists who worked in Vidin, including Aleksandar Apostolov, Anastasiya Gyukova, and Prodan Prodanov.
Opening Hours
Monday – Friday
09:00 – 12:00
13:00 – 17:00
Saturday
09:30 – 17:00
Sunday – Closed
Free admission
For information about all museum sites, please call +359 94 601 707 or +359 94 601 705.
