Stoiman Stoilov Redux

During several extend visits to the New London area, Stoimen Stoilov has become an important and beloved member of the artistic community here. His work has appeared at numerous galleries in the area, as well as those in Palm Beach and southern Florida. Stoilov’s etchings have graced an art folio book, ECHOES which has found its way into special collections at The Shain Library at Connecticut College, the New York, Public Library, The Firestone Library at Princeton, The Brink Library at Yale, and Middlebury College among others. A large exhibition of his work was presented among other Bulgarian painters at the Slater Memorial Gallery, in Norwich, in a show titled Window on the Black Sea. His work has appeared at the von Schlippe Gallery, the Hygienic Gallery, and an important solo exhibition at the Lyman Allyn Museum, which was opened by the Vice President of Bulgaria, Todor Kalvagiev. That exhibition became a documentary film, titled Stoimen, the Artist.

Over the years, he has generously provided his work to illustrate poems by Tom Kirlin, and Lyubomir Levchev among others. Stoimen created a number of images to illustrate the poem, the Wreck of the Thresher, by William Meredith. These images were commissioned by the Disabled American Veterans and sponsored by the local nuclear power company. This broadside was sent as a gift to the 128 families of those lost sea. The memorial was housed for several years at the New London Public Library, but in April 2022, the poem and images, as well as a list of all those who perished became the official memorial housed at the New London City Hall. One of the etchings is featured here, “Guardian of the Sea,” which shows an angel collecting the spirits of the sailors from the ocean, a lighthouse in the background makes the image even more moving. A number of military, academic, and political representatives attended that ceremony, including a beautiful prayer/poem by Rev. Cynthia Willauer. Congressman Courtney sent a letter of support in a letter to Mayor Passero.

Stoiman has lived in Vienna with his daughter Diana for a number of years. When he was presented with the honorific title Professor by the Vienese government, Stoiman created an image of all of the various underground train lines along with images of important characters like Freud, Marx, Mozart and Franz Joseph who have lived in Vienna. It is a very whimsical piece and at the end of the red line there is an etching of me and William wearing wings carrying books. Stoiman included this image because he said this is the line to the airport and so often he met me and William at the airport. This wonderful image appeared at all of the subway stops in Vienna.

The cover of this little pamphlet has a New Year's greeting from Stoimen. An angel brings in the New Year, and there you can find many of the characters from previous works and images of his beloved town of Varna. We used to take a boat on the Black Sea and fish. We cooked the fish on board, and there was plenty of white wine and vodka, swimming and sunshine to make a perfect day.

Stoiman is not overly well these days or he would be here with us, but he is with us in spirit. He is alive, if not overly well at the moment. But the work he has created will never die.