Discover Georgia : Fine Arts (Painting / Sculpture / Street Art / Photo)

The art of frescoes

The art of mural painting developed very early in Georgia. An example of the first frescoes of the 7th century can be found in the representation of the Last Supper preserved in the monastery of David Garedja. Originally, the frescoes covered the choir and the apses, but very soon they occupied all the wall spaces of the churches as well as the columns and vaults. Byzantine norms permeate these early illustrations of the lives of the saints. They are characterised by sober colours and clean lines. The techniques evolve gradually. The monumentality of the 11th-century frescoes gradually gave way to more decorative and less fixed forms. Some of the frescoes that have survived successive invasions, erosion and bad weather have miraculously survived. Theseinclude the 11th-century mosaic of the Gelati monastery

showing the Virgin Mary, Jesus and the archangels Michael and Gabriel, the great 10th and 11th-century frescoes of the monastery of Ateni Sioni, near Gori, and the 12th-century frescoes of Vardzia, which skilfully make up for the irregularities in the walls of the troglodyte church.

During the Mongolian invasions, the art of fresco painting did not disappear, and many Byzantine masters came to work in Georgia, brilliantly mixing Byzantine and Georgian influences. The 13th century and the fall of Constantinople (1453) marked the beginning of a period of unoriginal creation with a return to the models of the past. In the 16th century, there was a revival of mural painting, strongly influenced by Georgian traditions, as can be seen in the Church of St. George inGuelati

, Gremi and Nekressi. It should be noted that today the churches are once again filling up with frescoes executed by craftsmen who meticulously reproduce medieval frescoes. Also interiors that seem to date from the 11th century sometimes date from 2006!

Decorative sculpture

Mainly from the medieval period, decorative sculptures embellish cathedral façades in the form of relief figures and ornamental chiselling. It is particularly in the bas-reliefs that the masters gave free rein to their talent. Originally limited to the towers of windows and doors, the sculptures took up more and more space. In the early days, the motifs chosen were animals among flowers and plants. The vine motif, the Georgian symbol par excellence, is also very common.

Between the 8th and 10th centuries, an evolution can be felt in the style. Alongside the refined geometric motifs, new original forms emerge (end of the 10th century).

The themes of Christ and the Ascension are relatively frequent and placed above the doors. Models from abroad blend in with traditional motifs, as can be seen on the capitals of the church in Bolnissi. It was at the beginning of the 10th century that the relief was refined in the rendering of the faces and the folds of the garments chiselled into the stone. Unlike Russian and Byzantine churches, where the sacred part of the church was separated from the believers by a wall covered with icons (the iconostasis), in medieval Georgia we note the presence of a stone wall topped with columns and arcades. It was only later that the spaces between the columns were occupied by icons. A very small number of these fences have survived; the church of Djvari in Mtskheta preserves a fragment of them, as does the church of Dzveli Chouamta in Kakhetia.

Georgian miniatures

Originally, the copyist monks embellished the manuscripts by underlining the letters of the Georgian alphabet using tinted inks. Later, the monks became masters in the art of book illumination. The first illuminated work that has come down to us is the Tetraevangile of Adichi (Svanetia region) dated 897. Two methods are used here: in one, the outlines are traced in ink, then the inside is covered with a layer of colour; in the other, several layers of colour are applied to a previously sketched drawing.

The thirteenth century shows a desire for renewal: the characters overflow onto the margins of the text, which is itself decorated with motifs. With the arrival of Italian missionaries in the 16th and 17th centuries, Western influences began to appear in the work of Georgian artists. In parallel with religious illumination, a secular variant influenced by Iran also developed. An astrology manuscript, representing the signs of the zodiac, is dated 1188. The masterpiece of medieval Georgian literature, The Knight with Tigerskin, was illuminated on numerous occasions, the oldest being by the talent of Mamukah Tavakarashvili.

Paint

In the 18th century, Georgian art established links with the art of Western Europe. The monumental arts gave way to easel painting, graphic art and sculpture. Easel painting is growing rapidly. A moving testimony to the introduction of Western standards in painting is represented by the collection of Qajar art in the Tbilisi Museum's basement: these are portraits by artists of the Iranian Empire, some of whom were Georgian, who continued to paint Oriental motifs in the European manner and proportions. This transitional art is unique, and the Tbilisi collection is one of the richest (it was immortalized in Paradjano Achik Kerib

's film). Then, the school of portraitists in Tbilisi in the mid-nineteenth century met with immense success (especially the school of Hakop Hovnatanian or Ma?s?uradze). It mixes traditional aspects of medieval painting with the realism of the compositions. The Museum of Fine Arts in Tbilisi has many works by these painters specializing in portraits of the royal family and representatives of the high nobility. Of particular note are two remarkable paintings, anonymous but probably by Hovnatanian: here the features of the figures are rendered with precision, as are the solemn poses. For the record, Hovnatanian lost his livelihood with the advent of photography and he went further east, to Iran, to escape the curse of the portraitists.

In the 1880s, portraiture dominated in easel painting, but there was an evolution among young painters who had studied at the St. Petersburg Academy of Fine Arts. They attempted to render not only the exterior, physical aspect, but also the inner world and the psychology of the characters. Their subjects belong to different social types of Georgian society. For example, Romanoz Gvelessiani's The Kakhetian in the Jug or Alexander Beridze's The Smiling Old

Man. Georgia experienced an artistic effervescence at the end of the nineteenth century with painters such as Karabadze (1889-1952), Lado Gudiashvili (1896-1980) and, the most famous among them, Piromanashvili (1862-1918), who created portraits and scenes in a very particular naive style reinterpreting the iconographic tradition. New trends are emerging. Studies of morals take precedence in Guiorgui Gabashvili and his village scenes. A genre in which the self-taught painter Niko Pirosmanichvili, known as Pirosmani, excels, whose paintings portray the "little" Georgian people, but also princes engaged in one of their favourite occupations: banqueting. Many of them will be familiar with the Paris of the 1920s and its cultural dynamism, where new trends and the most diverse influences mingled. A room is dedicated to Pirosmani at the National Gallery inTbilisi, whose work can also be appreciated in his house-museum in Sighnaghi.

From 1945 to the present day

In the heart of Tbilisi, the imposing building of the Museum of Fine Arts brings together 3,500 works created by one hundred Georgian artists over the last seventy years. Collages, oil paintings, drawings and sculptures are presented in chronological order on three levels. The visitor covers socialist realism, the period of the Iron Curtain and the Cold War, the collapse of the Soviet regime, the civil war and the independence of Georgia.

Photography became established very early in Georgia, particularly in the form of family albums. We particularly recommend those of Barbara Dadiani (1903-1999). From the testimonies of the 1917 Revolution to photography at the service of socialist ideology, this art documented all the upheavals in the country. In 1933, the Georgian Photo collective enabled the best Georgian photographers to take part in international competitions. Their images show the workers, collective farms, industrial landscapes of the time. Amateurs will not fail to explore the rooms of the Georgian Museum of Photography

. To complete the visit, the collection of the Fotografia gallery is divided into three parts: conceptual, contemporary and documentary. High quality works such as the work on the anthropomorphic effects of wood by Nata Sopromadze can be admired.

Street art has only recently emerged in Georgia. Famous artists such as Jérôme Mesnager and his famous white man now adorn the streets of the country. Except in the historic heart of Tbilisi, traces of them can be found everywhere, from broad political messages to poetic or humorous stencils. Three addresses will delight street art

hunters. Fabrika, housed in a former sewing factory, has become a lively art centre with bars and restaurants, a coworking area, shops and art workshops arranged around a lively courtyard. You can't miss Fabrika. From afar, the colourful walls mark out the surrounding streets. Locals and tourists alike gather here to share, learn, be inspired, relax or eat. The underpass of the Heroes' Square was decorated by graffiti artists in 2017 on the initiative of the city to make it safer and more pleasant. You will find it on your way to the monument dedicated to the Georgian soldiers. Another monument, this time in homage to the heroes of the Second World War, will take you to the Vake Park underpass, which also leads to a shopping area. Recently, the Tbilisi Art Fair (TAF) offers art professionals an exclusive insight into the emerging art scene. The Tbilisi Contemporary Art Fair thus opens its doors to the international art scene with a focus on its border countries. TAF is committed to investing in and promoting young talent and places Georgia among the countries with a promising cultural future.