Niko Pirosmani

Who is Niko Pirosmani?

Niko Pirosmani was a self-taught Georgian painter born to a peasant family in the village of Mirzaani in the Kakheti region. Orphaned young, he worked a series of ordinary jobs, including as a railway conductor and co-founder of a small dairy business in Tbilisi, before turning to painting signboards and scenes for taverns and shops in exchange for food, lodging, or a little money. Working mostly on black oilcloth in a bold, simplified, self-taught style, he produced portraits, animal scenes, feasts, and depictions of everyday Georgian life that captured the character of his era with striking directness. He lived in poverty for most of his life and received little recognition until the 1910s, when avant-garde artists and critics in Tbilisi, including Ilia and Kirill Zdanevich, took notice of his work and began promoting it. Pirosmani died in 1918, alone and in poverty, during the citywide flu pandemic. In the decades after his death his paintings gained international acclaim as outstanding examples of naive art, and he is now celebrated as one of Georgia's most beloved and distinctive artistic figures.

Sources: Wikipedia, "Niko Pirosmani" (cross-checked against museum records) · The Art Story, "Niko Pirosmani" artist biography · Pera Museum, Niko Pirosmani retrospective materials