Niko Pirosmanashvili
(1862-1918)

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Niko Pirosmanashvili, commonly known as Pirosmani, was a Georgian painter, born in the village of Mirzaani in the Kakheti province. Pirosmani was orphaned at a young age and moved with his sister to Tbilisi. Pirosmani worked as a servant, at which time he learned to read both Russian and Georgian. For a short time, Pirosmani moved back to his birthplace in Mirzaani and worked as a herdsman.

In the following years, Pirosmani held several jobs and trades, including opening a painting workshop in Tbilisi, which closed shortly after. Other odd jobs included working as a railroad conductor, house painting, whitewashing buildings and creating signboards. Pirosmani never made a large income, but made enough to continue painting.

Pirosmani was a self-taught artist and preferred painting with oils on cloth. His themes often included scenes of Georgian villages and portraits of imaginary and historical Georgians in everyday settings.

While Pirosmani stood apart from other professional artists in the region, the Russian poet, Mikhail Le-Dantyu and the artist Kirill Zdanevich noticed his work.

In 1913 two articles about Pirosmani and his paintings were published in Russia and Georgia. A couple of years later, Pirosmani was invited to join The Society of Georgian Painters, where he became better acquainted with regional artists.

While Pirosmani died from malnutrition in 1918 with little money or acclaim, his reputation continued to grow posthumously. After World War I his ‘naïve’ style became popular in Paris and exhibitions of his work have been held in cultural capitals around the world. Pirosmani’s work continues to be collected at an international level. Do you think you own a painting by Niko Pirosmani? Contact us. We are the experts on Niko Pirosmani.