Had Věšín remained at the School forever and explored freely the genre, with which he had felt greatest affinity since before his arrival to Bulgaria, our art would have soared even higher… In 1903, Věšín left the Drawing School. He declined two invitations – one from the Vienna, the other one from the Munich court – to answer the call of our Army Staff, which appointed him War Artist. This appointment was above all a limitation. And not only on the subject of his works (all had to be drawn from our military life), but also to their concept and interpretation (they had to be formal). Regardless, as a war artists Věšín was not diminished as a master, but grew.

Andrey Protich, Bulgarian art historian, archaeologist,
literary critic, journalist, public figure

Once he had assumed his new post as court and war artist, still at his home studio on the intersection of “Lyuben Karavelov” and “Gurko”, he began to paint military paintings too. When the Knyaz would call on us, the street would always fill with throngs of spectators, because the life guard, with their red jackets, belted with sabres, and with tall feathers on their fur hats, drew always great notice, and even more so the carriage, from which the Knyaz would descend… It seemed this interest became tiresome to the visitor… the War Ministry decided to build specially for Věšín a large studio at Rakovski Str., right by the Military Club.

Cornelia Věšín-Genova, daughter to the artist

Yaroslav Věšín was appointed as court painter-artist by Decree No 162 as recently as 20 June 1908, i.e. the post came with no benefits whatsoever. Both before and after this date, he was paid by the Ministry of War. From the Palace, now or then, he would receive only the occasional gift: a tie pin with the letter “Ф” or “E”, cufflinks, a note-case… His post, however, imposed on him further new obligations…

Cornelia Věšín-Genova, daughter to the artist

Over the course of seven years, as an artist of the Bulgarian Army Věšín created a number of manoeuvre-themed and other military paintings, which brought him several awards from the international art exhibitions in Paris, St. Louis, Liege, Munich, etc. And while alien to his temperament, they greatly elevated Věšín’s art. The thorough mastery and natural distribution of large groups of figures, horses and guns; horizons spanning for kilometres; expressive scenes; landscape and aerial atmosphere lent his military paintings a considerable artistic value.

Emil Cermak (1864–1949), considered “Father of reporting in Bulgaria“,
Czech and Bulgarian journalist, first director of the Czechoslovak Telegraph Agency