National Art Gallery
Adult – 6lv
Students, senior – 3lv
The biggest and most highly regarded entity of its kind in Bulgaria is the National Museum of Bulgarian Art. Over time, it has fortified its position as a centre for national values and cultural heritage. 1892 saw the collection’s inception when the then People’s Museum of Archaeology established its Department of Art.
In 1948, the Council of Ministers, pronounced the National Art Gallery (NMBA) an independent institution by virtue of an express resolution.
Over 30,000 individual pieces of prints, sculptures, and paintings embellish the walls of the gallery and comprise the museum’s collection of New and modern Bulgarian art, stemming from the period of 1878 (Bulgaria’s liberation from Ottoman yoke) up to the 1990s.
By far the most all-inclusive is the collection, representing paintings of Bulgarian art masters. Nonetheless, the black and white drawings’ collection is quite abundant, too. The expositions in the museum encompass some of the masterpieces of Bulgarian sculptors that worked in the 20th century.
National Art Gallery Expositions
The museums’ galleries regularly organise events and expositions in the halls of the gallery. The number is usually around ten per year.
These expositions typically honour major events and happenings of the New and Modern Bulgarian Art or eminent Bulgarian artists and cultural figures.
The mixed character of the expositions exemplify the artistic process’ broad diversity – from the first days of Bulgaria’s independence until present times.
Opening hours of the National Art Gallery
The national gallery of Bulgaria is open Tuesday to Sunday from 10:00 am to 6 pm. Note that tickets are sold before 5:30 pm. The gallery is closed on Mondays.
Sofia’s National Archaeological Museum is inside the oldest and largest, former Ottoman mosque (Koca Mahmut Paşa Camii) in Sofia.