Stefan Kirov Kanchev ( bg, Стефан Киров Кънчев ; 6 August 1915 – 22 August 2001) was a Bulgarian

graphic artist A graphic designer is a professional within the graphic design and graphic arts industry who assembles together images, typography, or motion graphics to create a piece of design. A graphic designer creates the graphics primarily for published, p ...

best known for his logo design work. Referred to as the "father of Bulgarian graphic design" and the "master of the trademark", Kanchev authored around 1,600 logos, including logos for the National Palace of Culture,

National Art Gallery List of national galleries is a list of national art galleries. {{tocright Africa *Iziko South African National Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa *National Art Gallery of Namibia, Windhoek, Namibia The Americas *Galería Nacional, San Juan, Puerto ...

National Opera and Ballet The National Opera and Ballet ( bg, Национална опера и балет) is a national cultural institution in Bulgaria that covers opera and ballet. It is based in an imposing building in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. The first opera ...

, Bulgarian National Television, Union of Bulgarian Artists, TZUM, International Fair Plovdiv, and Petrol AD.

Early life

Kanchev was born 6 August 1915 in Kalofer, a town in the

sub-Balkan valleys The Sub-Balkan Valleys ( bg, Подбалкански котловини, Podbalkanski kotlovini) are row of 11 valleys running from the Bulgarian border with Serbia east to the Black Sea. They are separating the Balkan mountains from a chain of o ...

of south central Bulgaria (then the Kingdom of Bulgaria). The son of an icon painter, he enrolled at the

National Academy of Arts The National Academy of Arts ( bg, Национална художествена академия) is an institution of higher education in Sofia, Bulgaria. It is the oldest and most renowned school of arts in the country. History The National ...

in the capital Sofia when he was 25, where he studied mural painting in 1940–1945 under Dechko Uzunov.

Career

After leaving the National Academy of Arts shortly before graduation, Kanchev took part in exhibitions and biennales in Bulgaria and abroad over the next 22 years, including

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...

, Budapest, Berlin, Moscow, Warsaw,

Brno Brno ( , ; german: Brünn ) is a city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava and Svratka rivers, Brno has about 380,000 inhabitants, making it the second-largest city in the Czech Republic ...

, Ljubljana and New York City. During this time, individual exhibitions of his work were organized in Sofia, Moscow, Prague, Berlin, Warsaw and Budapest, among other cities. In 1967 when he was 52, Kanchev participated in an AIGA (American Institute of Graphic Arts) international exhibition in which he presented 23 of his logos, including his Petrol AD trademark. Fifteen years later, in 1982,

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

ese magazine ''Idea'' ran a 16-page feature on Kanchev and his work. At the age of 79 in 1994 he was named among the world's top ten trademark artists along with Paul Rand and Saul Bass. Kanchev died on 22 August 2001. In June 2009, the premier Sofia Design Week featured an exhibition dedicated to Kanchev's logos.

Themes and styles

Kanchev's work spanned most varieties of applied art, though he was most productive in his trademark and logo work and as a designer of book covers, posters, greetings cards, print advertisements, stamps, product labels and packaging. As a designer, Kanchev was often inspired by traditional Bulgarian art and folklore.

Reception

According to the

Bulgarian Academy of Sciences The Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (abbreviated BAS; bg, Българска академия на науките, ''Balgarska akademiya na naukite'', abbreviated ''БАН'') is the National Academy of Bulgaria, established in 1869. The Academy ...

''Encyclopedia of Fine Arts in Bulgaria'', Kanchev's work "was distinguished by rich imagination, even and clear composition, successful relation between

type Type may refer to: Science and technology Computing * Typing, producing text via a keyboard, typewriter, etc. * Data type, collection of values used for computations. * File type * TYPE (DOS command), a command to display contents of a file. * Ty ...

and image, clean shapes ndoriginal artistic ideas that entirely fulfill the content of the work". In the words of artist and critic Ivan Nenov, " anchev'strademarks are entirely new, modern without being merely fashionable... Each of these trademarks can be magnified to a monumental size or reduced to a miniature, and it will not lose neither its readability nor its graceful beauty." For his efforts, Kanchev has received state decorations of Bulgaria, including the Order of Cyril and Methodius 1st class (in 1956, 1963 and 1969), Red Flag of Labour (1965), and People's Republic of Bulgaria 2nd class (1975).

References

External links