About the artist:

Georges Papazoff was a Bulgarian painter and writer. He became prominent in Paris, worked and died in France. He was among the first surrealists, and was an acquaintance of Joan Miró, Max Ernst and Pablo Picasso.

In Paris, Papazoff received assistance from another Bulgarian - Jules Pascin. Pascin introduced him to the artistic community, showing him around the world of artists. Papazoff works were referred the surrealist movement, but he rarely ended up in an exhibitions or encyclopaedias featuring the surrealist artists. Papazoff claimed to be among the first to engage in surreal imagery, yet he got credit for this from only a few: "But finally I learned that when I refuse to accept the rules of the surrealists, I condemn myself. To date, no surrealist wants to remember or admit that I was the first one who showed some a-real, or, if you want, "surreal," paintings in Paris." Papazoff was not a member of the surrealist group, but he created works in their spirit and exhibited with them. The 1927 Anthology of French Painting by Maurice Raynal classifies Georges Papazoff's work from as surreal imagery and gives him a place, linking it to the German tradition, as well as to Klee and Miró. Papazoff's style at this time was going through the influences of impressionism, expressionism, fauvism and cubism, while touching on realism and abstraction. In Antologie plastique du surréalisme, Jacques Baron gives Papazoff a significant place, calling him a free spirit who wasn't affiliated with any groups. Baron draws reader's attention to Papazoff's relationships with Tristan Tzara, Robert Desnos, Paul Éluard and Max Ernst. Papazoff's name is also mentioned in the 1982 Dictionary of Surrealism, in which the entry on Papazoff was written by Édouard Jaguer: "Papazoff is undoubtedly one of the forerunners of what we now call 'abstract surrealism' of the mid-1920s, along with Miró, Ernst, Malkin and Masson." In his 1975 Encyclopaedia of Surrealism, René Passeron mentions that upon his arrival in Paris, Papazoff recognized the surrealists with whom he exhibited as his own ilk, but his independent character stood in the way of his integration into the group. Jean-Pierre Delarge identifies Papazoff as a surrealist, a cubist, a fauvist, a follower of Klee, applying frottage like Ernst, painting figures on a pure background like Léger, and having Slavic reminiscences like Chagall. Andréi Nakov draws attention to both the sources of Papazoff's inspiration - German expressionism and Klee, and his relationship with the French surrealists and Miró. Jean-Paul Crespelle pays special attention to Papazoff in "Uncle Papazoff – the Bulgarian who told stories of love and blood,". He describes him as an artist "who became surrealist before surrealism". "His bright, original painting, sparkling with cheerful humour, heralded the searches of Miró and Max Ernst. Surrealists claim that Papazoff belonged to their movement."

The Bulgarians authors who studied Papazoff, like Krastev and Nakov, being also familiar with the local folk tradition, have mentioned that the latter is where some of the artist's inspirations have come from. This refers to his colour solutions and to his leveraging of some decorative elements, which is especially evident in The Apron, 1927; Fire, 1925/26; or Composition, ca. 1925. It can also be seen in The Bulgarian Strength, 1928, an abstract composition exhibiting a stylized hand in its centre holding the already familiar floodlight cone. Some elements, e.g. the colour scheme, the shapes that resemble mountain silhouettes, correspond well to the title.

Over the years, Papazoff developed his own pool of trademark elements that he frequently resorted to, e.g. stylized dogs, fish, cones, stairs, etc. A recurring motif is that of the moon, sometimes split into two parts, reflecting the sea and the sky. The stairs appear in drawings and paintings, as symbolic stairways to heaven. The constant presence of the sea, as a symbol of freedom and mystery, also marks the artist's interest in the unexplored territories of living and consciousness.