Valentina Assenova
Andrew W. Mellon Undergraduate Fellow in the Humanities
2005—2006 Forum on Word and Image
Valentina Assenova
Fine Arts & Finance
College & Wharton '08
Vladimir Dimitrov and the Bulgarian Madonna: Creed, Criticism, Propaganda
Bulgarian artist Vladimir Dimitrov belonged to a movement in the 20th century that defined national identity in agrarian terms: the motherland and the common laborer were one. Dimitrov’s signature painting, popularly known as “The Bulgarian Madonna,” was to personify Bulgaria’s bright Communist future. What does this work, with its strong nationalistic overtones, reveal about how we read and see art?