The Unmistakable Magic of Niko Pirosmani
the Georgian painter and his butchers, fishermen and feasts
“All Georgians are artists”, I once heard someone say, and I think there is truth in that.
While there is no society on Earth where art doesn’t exist in some form, in Georgia it is often expressed in glorious, and sometimes, spontaneous outbursts, present in fashion, graffiti, music, dance, song, food and wine as well as on canvas.
Georgia is passionately creative and long has been with museums up and down the country displaying remarkable icon paintings, textiles, gold regalia, religious shrouds and relief panels from across the centuries.
But of all the great artists, maestros and designers it is the work of Niko Pirosmani (1862-1918) that is the most recognisable and enchanting.
Inescapable, even.
Over the years, I have eaten in restaurants named after him, drunk delicious ‘Pirosmani’ wine, and walked down Pirosamani Street in Tbilisi, which is where, at number 29, you’ll find the little Pirosmani Museum.
His artworks appeal because not only are they are usually strange, bright and attention grabbing they are about what it is to be human. How people share food together, how they live in towns and villages and the animals that they exist alongside. Sometimes people appear more as animals, and animals as people. Magic realism burns inside Pirosmani’s creations.
The power of his paintings may come from their simplicity yet there is a deep sophistication as well. With only a few brushstrokes Pirosmani was capable of transforming the everyday into something fantastic and extraordinary.
Something unquestionably Georgian.
And so, for this newsletter, I’d like us to go to Tbilisi to see how his legacy lives on in various ways.
