Newly Discovered Private Ukiyo-e Collection in Bulgaria (2022)
Beginning in 2020, the author worked on identifying a private collection owned by Turkey-based Italian architect Pietro Montani whose tenure as Chief Architect of Eastern Rumelia (presently – South Bulgaria) was the reason he started living in Bulgaria in 1885.
The collection consists of 50 ukiyo-e paintings and a printed textile sample. For more than 150 years it has been in possession of Montani's grandchildren who vaguely knew details about the value of the leather-bound album that contains the collection.