Portrait of James Bourchier

Marin Vasilev (1867–1931), along with Boris Chatz and Zheko Spiridonov, is considered one of the three founders of sculptural art in post-Liberation Bulgaria. He completed his studies in the Pedagogical School in Shumen before graduating in sculpture from the Industrial School of Arts in Prague in 1896. After returning to Bulgaria, he became a lecturer in 1899 and, in 1911, a professor at the State Industrial School of Arts in Sofia. Strongly influenced by academic realism, he created works in the sphere of portraiture and monumental sculpture. Vasilev is also regarded as the creator of the discipline of decorative monumental and applied sculpture in Bulgaria. As a sculptor-decorator, he was responsible for the ornamentation of many public buildings.