Nikola Toplev (* 29.06.1965 Skopie (Mazedonien) - † 14.11.2013 in the city of Salzburg)

He came to Salzburg in 1990 and worked as an artist for over 20 years.

Gallery (founded in 2001)
His gallery "Toplev Art Gallery" is located at Kaigasse 40 in Salzburg. The artist Nikola Toplev passed away on 14 November 2013 at 04:00.
After Nikola Toplev's death, Monika Toplev and her daughter Jasmina Toplev took over the gallery and continued to run it in Nikola Toplev's spirit.

Salzburgwiki writes about him: " The picturesque mountain and lake landscapes in his homeland are likely to have inspired the young Nikola Toplev to paint. He picked up a paintbrush at the age of eight and painted landscapes. He arrived in Salzburg in 1990 with an Interrail ticket and stayed. Since 2001, he has run a gallery in the Kaiviertel neighbourhood together with his Austrian wife Monika Toplev. Since then, he has created around a thousand paintings and has had to expand his gallery by adding a second room. In Chicago and Santa Monica (USA), his paintings sold for up to 50,000 dollars in 2008.

Nikola Toplev was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer far too late in 2012. He initially suffered from back pain and lost 25kg. At the clinic, it was assumed that he had lost weight because of the diabetes and the back pain was interpreted as a slipped disc. Back at home, the pain increased and became unbearable. Back in hospital, he was diagnosed with cancer. Nikola Toplev died of the disease in November 2013."

- "I could do nothing more than sit next to him and be quiet. There was speechless in the room until the nurse left the room. It was sad. Outside was almost dark... This happened 2013. Just a few weeks before he..."
 Written by Peter Siegfried Krug

Memories of Peter S. Krug:

Nikola Toplev spent the whole day in his studio in Kaigasse 40 in the city of Salzburg, painting one large picture after another. His paintings sold very well with tourists and Americans. His wife Monika Toplev supported Nikola Toplev wherever she could. She maintained the website and photographed every painting by the artist Nikola Toplev in order to publish it immediately on the website. Monika Toplev also took care of the tasteful furnishing of the studio. Nikola Toplev painted in a tiny room behind the large room where his paintings were offered for sale. He usually wore a jumper that was full of paint on the front. Nikola Toplev indulged himself little during the time he was in Salzburg and spent most of his time painting. Anyone who knew Nikola was extremely shocked when he openly told us that he had a 10-centimetre cancer on his pancreas. Nikola Toplev was a very positive person and was open about his cancer. He firmly believed in medicine and chemotherapy and said that he could kill the cancer cells with chemotherapy, just like in war.

During this time, he ate a lot of sweets every day and believed that he could defeat the cancer cells with the co-operation of chemotherapy. At the same time, he underwent proton therapy and paid a lot of money for it. The doctor told him that nothing of the cancer was recognisable and he was very hopeful that he had beaten the cancer. He shared this apparent sense of achievement with other people in a cancer forum. He gave cancer patients and relatives of cancer patients a lot of hope. Nikola Toplev encouraged other cancer patients on the Internet with his story. Unfortunately, this euphoria did not last long. The cancer came back and Nikola Toplev not only lost his hair because of the chemo, but also lost weight down to his bones. Nikola Toplev remained a positive person almost until the last day of his life and was still happy when he was able to sell one of his paintings a few weeks before his death.

Hospital of the Brothers of Mercy Salzburg

In the evening Peter Siegfried Krug visited Nikola Toplev at the Brothers of Mercy  when he was having chemotherapy again. This hospital is only a two-minute walk from the gallery at Kajetanerpl. 1. 
Peter Krug found Nikola Toplev's visit very depressing. He was in a room with other terminally ill cancer patients. He was lying in the hospital bed with his robe,his jeans and shoes. Nikola Toplev had spontaneous tremors and intense anxiety. He prayed intensely while receiving chemotherapy. He held both hands tightly together, fingers interlaced. Then he said: "I hope the chemotherapy works."

The last weeks in the Toplev Gallery before Nikola died

There were also visitors to the Toplev Gallery almost every day who were concerned about Nikola's state of health. Nikola Toplev was still going to his gallery regularly a week earlier and his face would light up when an American looked at his large paintings and bought them. Religious, older women also visited Toplev in the gallery. By now he was just skin and bones and could only sit still. A week earlier, he realised that the chemotherapy was not helping him. At this point, he was mentally clear despite his physical condition.
In his last days, Nikola Toplev was no longer to be found in his gallery.

Days after Nikola Toplev died, there were numerous flowers and condolences in front of Kaigasse 40. 

 Funeral ceremony 

Nikola Toplev was buried in the communal cemetery in Salzburg. His funeral ceremony in the communal cemetery was very beautiful. Monika Toplev had invited over 100 people to attend. Former friends and acquaintances from Vienna also attended the funeral.

Burial date: 22.11.2013

Group:069, Row:05, Order:3, Grave number:013

Cemetery: Communal cemetery

Address:Gneiser Straße 8
5020 Salzburg

Others

Galerie Toplev Art Gallery (founded in 2001)

Since his death in 2013, Monika Toplev has continued to run the gallery with the support of Jasmina Toplev.

Friends

One of his best friends was Reza Tavakoli, who was the boss at Trattoria Domani in Kaigasse 33 at the time. Reza Tavakoli supported Nikola Toplev in the difficult early days when he opened the Toplev Gallery (Kaigasse 40).

Youtube

https://www.youtube.com/@galerietoplev