Raphael Mihailov is among the most interesting and modern painters of the first half of the 20th century. He creates dense painting in a very small format /up to 60 cm/ in which he synthesizes different artistic styles. Raphael Mihailov does not belong to any art school, he has a unique style defined by some art critics as metaphysical painting. Raphael Mihailov depicts each object using the artistic style of the era in which the object was created. In this way, every object has its own space and time, and every form has its place. He paints landscapes, portraits and still lifes.

He was born on March 15, 1902 in Tarnovo. He died on October 20, 1969 in Sofia. Graduated (1934) Painting at the Academy of Arts, Sofia. His teachers are Iv. Angelov, Haralampi Tachev, Dechko Uzunov. His first works were expressive and colorful watercolors depicting natural landscapes and compositions from rural life: "Village Feast", "Spring", "House in Passarel", "Rozhen's Rhodope Shepherds" (1934, NHG). From 1935 to 1961 he was a teacher in the province and Sofia. Member of the Society of New Artists.

After 1934, Raphael Mihailov devoted himself to oil painting, creating landscapes, still lifes and interiors. His paintings from this period are refined and lyrical: "House in Karlovo" (1935), "Landscape from the village of Passarel" (1936, NHG), "Landscape" (1957, NHG), "Autumn near Knyazhevo" (1960) , "Lion Bridge" (1960). Other works: "Self-Portrait" (1950), "September Morning" (1959, NHG), "Landscape from Tarnovo", "Landscape from Sofia", "By the Canal" (1960), " Landscape at Sunset" (1961).
Rafael Mihailov participated in the Group Art Exhibitions, organized solo exhibitions in Sofia (1956, 1963, 1967). His works are owned by NHG, SGHHG, HG in Plovdiv, Tarnovo, Burgas, Ruse, Pleven, Varna, Vratsa, Sliven, private collections in the country and abroad.

He writes poetry and in 1967 he published the collection of poems "Moments". Rafael Mihailov does not like worldly noise and this is one of the reasons why he did not receive the recognition he deserved during his lifetime.

Rafael Mihailov is considered the progenitor of the so-called "metaphysical painting" - a trend in European art from the 1930s - 1940s. The goal is to create a painting that is independent of time. Its universality lies not in the representation of the household and other details that lead to a specific era. And thus it sounds strong at all times. Rafael Mihailov searches for it in a modern way, which is based on a few very simple subjects: landscape, still life, very rarely composition. It is a beautiful, dense and very strong painting that will live on forever.
After Rafael Mihailov, Magda Abazova and Vasil Barakov worked in this style.

Literature: Maximilian Kirov, "The artist Rafael Mihailov at 60 years old", Izkustvo magazine, 1963.

Dimitar Grozdanov, Opening of an exhibition of Raphael Mihailov