Toma Varbanov (1943)

Toma Varbanov was born in the city of Plovdiv. In 1969, he graduated from the National Academy of Arts in Sofia, where he had studied under Georgi Bogdanov, with a degree in “Decorative-Monumental Painting.”. From 1969–1970, he specialized at the Académie de la Grande Chaumiere in Paris, under Yves Brayer. He has been a member of the Union of Bulgarian Artists since 1973. Varbanov taught decorative-monumental painting at the National Academy of Art from 1970. He became an associate professor in 1977 and a professor in the wall painting department in 1985. Between 2000 and 2008, he served as Dean of the Faculty of Fine Arts at the National Academy of Art. Among his important awards and distinctions are: the First Prize for Painting at the III National Youth Exhibition, Sofia, 1976; the National Prize for Painting “Zahari Zograf”, 1980; the “Sofia Award” for Painting, 1982; the Award for Painting from the Ministry of Defense, 1983; the Award for Painting from the National Exhibition “Suedinenieto” (“The Union”), 1985; the First Prize for Painting from the National Exhibition in Montana, 1988; and the First Prize from the National Exhibition “Olympic Ideals”, 1995.

Prof. Toma Varbanov worked in the field of painting and monumental art. His preferred techniques include mosaic, secco, and sgraffito. Among his important works are: sgraffito “Radio Dispersion” on the facade of Radio Shumen, 1972; the mosaic “Bulgarian-Soviet Friendship” on the Buzludzha Monument (Monument House of the Bulgarian Communist Party), 1981; the mosaic on the facade of the Montana Municipality building; mosaics in a shoe factory in Hadzhidimovo; sgraffito compositions at the Burgas port; a mosaic in Building “A” of the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics at the Sofia University, 1989; and frescoes in the Orthodox Church “Dormition of the Theotokos” at the Pamporovo resort, 2002–2008.