PROF. NENKO BALKANSKI was born in 1907 in Kazanlak. Between 1925 and 1930, he studied at the Art Academy in Sofia. In 1930, he held his first solo exhibition in Kazanlak. That same year, he graduated in the specialty of “Painting” under professors Nikola Marinov and Boris Mitov. Subsequently, he studied in Paris and Munich. From 1939 to 1941, he specialised in France and Italy. From 1947, he taught at the Art Academy in Sofia, becoming a professor in 1959. He was a member of the “Native Art” society and the Society of New Artists. He died in Sofia in 1977.
After the death of the artist, the Municipality of Kazanlak restored his birth house, which also houses a permanent exhibition of his works. In 1981, his wife Liliyana Balkanska donated 267 paintings and 1,271 graphics and drawings to the Kazanlak Art Gallery, which today represent the largest collection of Nenko Balkanski’s works.
The renovated ancestral home of the artist, with the newly built exhibition hall adjacent to it, was opened for visits in 1991. Since 2021, two of the institution’s halls have been transformed into spaces for temporary exhibitions.
