Georges Papazoff

Georges Papazoff (Papasoff, Georges) (Bulgarian: Георги Папазов) (2 February 1894, in Yambol – 23 April 1972, in Vence, Alpes-Maritimes) was a Bulgarian painter and writer. He became prominent in Paris, worked and died in France. He was among the first surrealists, and was an acquaintance of Joan Miró, Max Ernst and Pablo Picasso.

Early years

Georges Papazoff was born in Yambol, Bulgaria, on 2 February 1894. After briefly volunteering in the Balkan War, he left for Prague in 1913. In his autobiography, he mentions the school he attended only as Grand Ecole.[1] Papazoff enrolled in it to study architecture and park design, a specialty replete with practical activities (according to A. Nakov). He was busy drawing plant species and buildings in various aspects and in perspective. He made watercolour sketches of imaginary gardens. As the author himself admits,[2] this is where he first touched colour paints, but creative ideas only began to emerge in his mind after his visits to the Prague museums.

Between 1913 and 1918, Papazoff returned to his native Yambol several times. After the death of his first great love, Martha, in Prague, he decided to move to Munich. Papazoff attended the school of Hans Hofmann. In his autobiography, Papazoff shares some recollections from that period: "In Germany, I settled in Munich, where the conditions for drawing were good. I enrolled at a private academy where I would draw live models in the evening. All trends in modern painting were born with the impressionists. The impact of French painting, the most seductive of all, was dominant. The only thing that German expressionism proves is goodwill. The connections between Picasso, Kandinsky, and Klee aroused their fantasy and led them to abstract painting. I had a different problem. In fact, the evolution of an artist– Russian, German, French or Spanish – is self explanatory. .[3]

In 1921, Papazoff was already in Berlin. Refugees from Russia and Hungary flocked to Berlin. Berlin attracted artists, writers, actors, musicians, cabaret performers, etc. who filled the local galleries, theatres, music halls and operas. This was also a period of exceptional flourishing of architecture and design. "The experiment was the landmark of that time."[4]

Papazoff was probably also influenced by the only German artist he mentions having had a friendly relationship with, Hans Reichel (1892-1958). Papazoff admits that neither in Munich nor in Berlin did he maintain close ties with artists except for Reichel. The German painter played an important role in Papazoff's life as someone who saw his works and encouraged him at this early stage of his development as an artist.

Another important breakthrough for Papazoff was 1923 admission of one of his paintings by the Grosse Berliner Kunstausstellung; the painting was even purchased. This is Pferde (Horses) with its author being spelled as Georg Papasoff. The scale of the exhibition was really significant and it involved artists with a taste for both the realistic and the modern, e.g. constructivism, suprematism, futurism, dada, etc. From the precise catalogue we can see that Papazoff was ranked in the same hall with some of the most avant-garde artists, e.g. Max Burkhartz, Erich Buchholz, Max Dungert, Ivan Puni, Willi Baumeister, Herbert Behrens-Hangeler, Karl Peter Röhl, Arthur Segal, Max Hermann Maxy, etc. Berlin's atmosphere of that time greatly influenced Papazoff's development as well as his personal choices. According to his memoirs, Horses was purchased by a collector.[5]

In this early period the artist came under various influences, which left distinct marks on his still tentative style. He painted realistic landscapes, usually depicting houses in Bohemia, and tried out impressionistic techniques in some of them (1916–18). One can see how from a classic treatment of form and colour Papazoff transcended to colour lightening and harmonization of the elements in a painting. He created sketches of heads, ranging from expressionist to cubist methods. He also drew figure compositions, most often genre scenes from everyday life, applying the typical dynamic compositional principles of the German aesthetics of that period, including the grotesque. He displayed some of these works in his first Sofia exhibition in 1919, and critics immediately noted his immaturity.

After 1920, Papazoff's works were definitely influenced by expressionism and cubism. The few surviving paintings of that time deployed a variety of styles. He was experimenting, emulating, and trying out. We see both some more direct influences of expressionism stamped as a formula on portraits and figure compositions, but also some imaginative canvases reminiscent of the fairy tale and romantic subjects shared, for instance, by the Blue Rider members.

Papazoff's interests were encouraged by the raft of contemporary trends – and specifically by the influence of Paul Klee, who also sought to liberate art from the bondage of the visible and thereby reveal its transcendental quiddity by pushing it closer to music, children's drawings and the language of symbols and signs. Papazoff deliberately veered away from real-life models and began experimenting with abstract images. His path also passed through his admiration for Van Gogh, from whom he borrowed the expressiveness of the brushstrokes to turn it into his canvas' visual and narrative centre (Untitled, circa 1925; Energy, 1924/25, Petit Palais Museum).

At this stage, Papazoff's own style was still not fully formed. His evolution and passage through different methods was typical of many other avant-garde artists. Having spent several months in Geneva in 1923, drawn to the art of the great Hodler and his acquaintance with Paul Klee,[6] on 1 January 1924, Georges Papazoff was already in Paris.[7]

Shaping of style

When he arrived in Paris, Georges Papazoff received invaluable assistance from another Bulgarian who had settled there in 1905, Jules Pascin. According to Papazoff himself, Pascin introduced him to the artistic community, showing him around the world of artists.[8]

In Paris, Papazoff chanced upon a crucial stage in the development of the avant-garde movements. His works were often referred to as belonging to the surrealist movement, but he rarely ended up in the large exhibitions or encyclopaedias featuring the movement. Papazoff himself claimed to be among the first to engage in surreal imagery, yet he got credit for this from only a few: "But finally I learned that when I refuse to accept the rules of the surrealists, I condemn myself. To date, no surrealist wants to remember or admit that I was the first one who showed some a-real, or, if you want, "surreal," paintings in Paris."[9] Papazoff was not a member of the surrealist group, though he created works in their spirit and exhibited in parallel with them.

The 1927 Anthology of French Painting from 1906 to the Present, by Maurice Raynal's description classifies Georges Papazoff's work from that period as surreal imagery and gives him a specific place, linking it to the German tradition, as well as to Klee and Miró. If we look at Papazoff's output from that time, we will see him honing his style, going through the influences of impressionism, expressionism, fauvism and cubism, while touching on critical realism and abstraction as well. Various styles can be detected in his early works, attempts with the drawing, with the line and the field, with the deformation and the painting texture.

In Antologie plastique du surréalisme, Jacques Baron gives Papazoff a significant place, emphasizing in his conclusions that the artist was a free spirit who wasn't affiliated with any groups.[10] Baron draws reader's attention to Papazoff's relationships with Tristan Tzara, Robert Desnos, Paul Éluard and Max Ernst.

Papazoff's name is also mentioned in the 1982 Dictionary of Surrealism, in which the entry on Papazoff was written by Édouard Jaguer. He is categorical: "Papazoff is undoubtedly one of the forerunners of what we now call 'abstract surrealism' of the mid-1920s, along with Miró, Ernst, Malkin and Masson."

In his 1975 Encyclopaedia of Surrealism, René Passeron[11] once again mentions that upon his arrival in Paris, Papazoff recognized the surrealists with whom he exhibited as his own ilk, but his independent character stood in the way of his integration into the group. Jean-Pierre Delarge identifies Papazoff as a surrealist, a cubist, a fauvist, a follower of Klee, applying frottage like Ernst, painting figures on a pure background like Léger, and having Slavic reminiscences like Chagall.[12] We again owe a more serious approach to Andréi Nakov who draws attention to both the sources of Papazoff's inspiration, i.e. German expressionism and Klee, and to the effect that his relationship with the French surrealists and Miró had on his development.

Jean-Paul Crespelle pays special attention to Papazoff in a chapter entitled "Uncle Papazoff – the Bulgarian who told stories of love and blood,"[13] where he describes him as an artist "who became surrealist before surrealism"[14] and goes on to say: "His bright, original painting, sparkling with cheerful humour, heralded the searches of Miró and Max Ernst. Surrealists claim that Papazoff belonged to their movement."[15]

In the 1930s, Georges Papazoff began work on the Circus Dogs series, which he pursued until the late 1960s. In 1957, Papazoff created his own version of Henri Rousseau's famous 1897 The Sleeping Gypsy. During the 1950s, Papazoff produced the Gladiators series – figurative, abstract compositions in which he demonstrated mastery of drawing, colour, stylization, and the synergies of different surfaces.

During the 1960s Papazoff made some works that again relate to the sea, though the titles of some have divergent hints, e.g. Underwater Landscape, circa 1960; Moonlight, 1968; Blue Monsters, ca. 1960; Surrealistic Composition, ca. 1960; and Dragons on Blue and Green Background, ca. 1960. Here Papazoff deploys a different language – the shapes are smooth and complex, with serrated edges and punctures, reminiscent of shadows on monochrome surfaces. They are much different from the decorative, brightly colourful and categorical fish previously discussed – and convey a different mood.

The Bulgarians authors who studied Papazoff, like Krastev and Nakov, being also familiar with the local folk tradition, have repeatedly mentioned that the latter is where some of the artist's inspirations have come from. This refers to his colour solutions and to his leveraging of some decorative elements, which is especially evident in The Apron, 1927; Fire, 1925/26; or Composition, ca. 1925. It can also be seen in The Bulgarian Strength, 1928, an abstract composition exhibiting a stylized hand in its centre holding the already familiar floodlight cone. Some elements, e.g. the colour scheme, the shapes that resemble mountain silhouettes, correspond well to the title.

Over the years, Papazoff developed his own pool of trademark elements that he frequently resorted to, e.g. stylized dogs, fish, cones, stairs, etc. A recurring motif is that of the moon, sometimes split into two parts, reflecting the sea and the sky. The stairs appear in drawings and paintings, as symbolic stairways to heaven. The constant presence of the sea, as a symbol of freedom and mystery, also marks the artist's interest in the unexplored territories of living and consciousness.[16]

Writings

  • Paris – l'oeuvre et le destin des grands peintres (Paris, 1936)
  • Derain, mon copain (Paris, 1960)
  • Lettres a Derain (Paris, 1966)

Bibliography

  • Crespelle, Jean Paul, Montparnasse vivant, Paris, 1962
  • Krystev, Kiril, George Papazov, Sofia, 1973
  • Nakoff, A., Georges Pappasoff, Franc-tireur du Surrealisme, Brussels, 1973
  • Станчева, Румяна Л. Художникът Жорж Папазов като писател. Вербализация на сюрреалното. [Roumiana L. Stantcheva. The painter Georges Papazoff as a writer. Verbalization of surreal]. София: Колибри, 2014. http://www.colibri.bg/eng/books/1086/rumyana-l-stancheva-the-artist-georges-papazoff-as-a-writer

Honours

Papazov Island in Antarctica is named after George Papazov.[17]

Notes

  1. George, Papazoff (1971). Sur les pas du peintre: suivi de documents et témoignages. Paris: Galerie de Seine.
  2. Papazoff, George (1971). Sur les pas du peintre: suivi de documents et témoignages. Paris: Galerie de Seine.
  3. Papazoff, George (1971). Sur les pas du peintre: suivi de documents et témoignages. Paris: Galerie de Seine.
  4. Kelly Morris; Amanda Woods (eds.). Art in Berlin 1815-1989.
  5. Papazoff, George (1971). Sur le pas de peinture. Paris: Galerie de Seine. p. 33.
  6. Papazoff, George (1971). Sur le pas de peinture. Paris: Galerie de Seine. p. 35.
  7. Vassileva, Maria (2021). Georges Papazoff. Galeria Structura. ISBN 978-619-90949-7-6.
  8. Papazoff, Georges (1960). Derain: mon copain. Paris: SNEV - Valmont. p. 9.
  9. Papazoff, Georges (1971). Sur les pas du peinture. Paris. p. 78.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  10. Baron, Jacques (1980). Antologie plastique du surrealism. Paris: Éditions Filipacchi. p. 205.
  11. Passeron, René (1975). Encyclopédie de Surréalisme. Édition Somogy.
  12. Delarge, Jean-Pierre (2001). Dictionnaire des arts plastiques modernes et contemporains. Paris: Éditions Gründ.
  13. Crespelle, Jean-Paul (1987) [1962]. The Living Montparnasse (in Bulgarian). Sofia: Bulgarian Artist. pp. 219–251.
  14. Crespelle, Jean-Paul (1987) [1962)]. The Living Montparnasse (in Bulgarian). Sofia: Bulgarian Artist. p. 219.
  15. Crespelle, Jean-Paul (1987). The Living Montparnasse (in Bulgarian). Sofia: Bulgarian Artist. p. 222.
  16. Vassileva, Maria (2021). Georges Papazoff. Sofia: Galeria Structura. ISBN 978-619-90949-7-6.
  17. Papazov Island. SCAR Composite Gazetteer of Antarctica
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