Alexi Natchev

Alexi Nachev was born in 1951 in Sofia. After graduating from the Art High School, he was admitted to the National Academy of Arts, majoring in "Illustration and Book Design" with teachers Peter Chuklev and Vladislav Paskalev. His diploma work "Ukrainian Folk Tales" was published in 1979 by the "Narodna Mladezh" publishing house. As a young author, he began to work in the field of graphics, drawing and book illustration. In the 1980s, he worked with almost all Bulgarian publishing houses and published a significant number of books for children and adults. He also actively collaborated in the periodical press. He was awarded prizes from national exhibitions, competitions and international events. His works are owned by museum and private collections in Bulgaria and the USA, including the National Art Gallery, Sofia City Art Gallery, Museum of Art, Delaware, USA. In the period 1985-1990, he was a regular assistant at the National Art Academy, Department of Drawing. Since 1990 he has lived and worked in the USA. He has published over 20 children's books with established American publishing houses. He has been invited to solo exhibitions in museums, prestigious cultural institutions and galleries. In 2013 he had a retrospective exhibition at the Delaware Art Museum, Wilmington. He has taught at several higher education institutions in the arts, including Savannah College of Art and Design, University of the Arts, Philadelphia and Maryland Institute College of Arts, Baltimore. He is an emeritus professor at the Delaware College of Art and Design, where he headed the illustration program for twelve years.