Ilia Beshkov

Ilia Beshkov Dunov (1901-1958) was a Bulgarian painter, graphic artist, caricaturist and illustrator, as well as a writer and teacher. He is mainly remembered for his political caricatures and illustrations in the interwar press, where his graphic work had a considerable presence.

Born in Dolni Dabnik, near Pleven in north-central Bulgaria, he studied law at Sofia University from 1918 to 1920 before enrolling in 1921 at the National Academy of Art, in the class of Nikola Marinov, graduating in 1926. As a student he published caricatures in several magazines and later worked for the magazine Pladne. Because of his leftist views he was arrested twice, after the June Uprising and during the April Events.

In 1930 he joined the Narodno Izkustvo movement. In 1945 he began teaching drawing, illustration and print design at the National Academy of Fine Arts, became a tenured professor in 1953 and headed the Department of Graphics until his death in Sofia in 1958. His political caricatures are noted for their sarcasm and deep symbolic meaning.

The art gallery in Pleven bears his name and holds most of his works.