Several influential figures spring to mind when considering Georgian fine art in the contemporary era, and Dimitri Eristavi is undoubtedly among them. Nearly 70 years since his first emergence on the artistic scene, we are even more aware of the significance of his painting.Dimitri Eristavi was born in Tbilisi in 1931. He dedicated his whole creative energy to the capital city, seeing it as the source of his inspiration.

Robert Sturua (Senior, 1918–1982) left behind a remarkable creative legacy, distinguished by his contributions to both monumental and easel painting. While studying at the Tbilisi Academy of Arts, the upcom

The creative period of the artist Guram Gelovani (1928–1986) fell within the so-called “post-Stalinist” era, a time when cultural developments in Georgia were still largely shaped by the ideological politics of the totalitarian state. While socialist realism remained the dominant artistic doctrine, a slight cultural “thaw” began to emerge.

The life of Valerian Sidamon-Eristavi unfolded during a challenging turning point in Georgia's history. A devoted patriot, his deep love for his homeland can be seen reflected throughout his artistic legacy.

When Avto Varazi was first introduced to the writer Guram Rcheulishvili, Guram told his friend of his new acquaintance as they were saying goodbye: “This man is really a true artist.” Rcheulishvili, an outstanding writer, had recognized a kindred spirit in Varazi. Indeed, the word “true” perfectly captures Avto Varazi’s personality, as expressed in his art.

Temo Japaridze is one of the most prominent representatives of Georgian Soviet art. Although he belonged to the generation of the 1960s and 1970s, he greatly differed from his contemporaries in his courage, exploration of existentialism, intuitive coherence in relation to time, and immense individuality. From the 1950s to the restoration of Georgia's independence, several Soviet artists experienced "artistic crucifixion" or "Golgotha."

Some artists live lives so entwined with their work that the two become inseparable. Gayane Khachaturian is one such artist—a woman who, from the moment she emerged on the artistic stage, captivated attention. Her paintings invite viewers into a phantasmagoric realm, breaking free from the constraints of everyday reality and guiding them on an endless, dreamlike journey.

Nikoloz (Koka) Ignatov (1937–2002) was the key figure in Georgian art and culture during the 1960s -1980s. His first well-known work was the 1965 production of the play ‘The Wisdom of Lies’ at the Rustaveli Theater, which was directed by Nana Khatiskatsi and Tengiz Maghalashvili and was based on the fables of Sulkhan Saba Orbeliani. With its vibrant colors and creative expressiveness, the artist's background panel for this performance, which depicted a fairy-tale metaphor of the Georgian terrain, prompted audience applause as soon as the curtain opened.

During and after the October Revolution of 1917, Georgia, and particularly Tbilisi, became a refuge for exiled, gifted artists, many of whom had a significant impact on the development of Georgian fine arts. Among them was the renowned Russian painter and graphic designer Vasily Shukhaev.

Sergo Chakhoiants belonged to the generation of artists of the 1950s, though it wasn’t until the 2000s that he gained recognition. His son, Alexander Chakhoiants, shared that the artist's lifelong dream was to hold a personal exhibition, a goal that remained unfulfilled. Sergo was deeply committed to his painting, spending more time in his studio than at home. His wife, an art critic, believed in his talent, and when Sergo was working, she often told their children not to disturb him. He never thought of his artistic subjectivism or distinctive style as exceptional, and often justified it to his family that he could not paint in any other way.

Paris, autumn 1959. The Galerie Charpentier is getting ready for its traditional exhibition of artists - graduates from the Paris School. But then Raymond Naceta the gallery's director, decides to launch an unusual experiment: in order to objectively describe the current art scene in Paris, he contacts five authorized art experts with diverse creative interests and asks them to exhibit seven artists with their most recent three pieces.

Petre Otskheli's sketches not only speak of his broad imagination, technical virtuosity and deep thinking as an artist, but also refer in general to Georgian theater and cinema of the 1920s and 1930s, as well as universal contemporary avant-garde art.

Nikoloz Kandelaki is one of the most outstanding representatives of modern Georgian art, and the development of realistic sculpture in Georgia is associated with both he and Iakob Nikoladze. In addition to his creative genius, Kandelaki was a brilliant educator. He founded the Kandelaki School, where numerous gifted Georgian sculptors honed their craft. His impact on Georgian sculpture was deep and enduring. Born in the village of Kulashi in 1889, Kandelaki attended school in Kutaisi, moving on to pursue his studies at the Leningrad (St.Petersburg) Psycho-Neurological Institute. His medical education provoked his interest in the structure of plants and the human body.

In the history of Georgian repoussé art, the 17th century represents a significant period, marked by the establishment of a goldsmith's workshop amid the challenges and upheavals of the era. The workshop, founded by the prominent Prince of Odishi (Samegrelo), Levan Dadiani, a distinguished figure of the time, has garnered considerable interest. To what extent did the strained family relations within the Dadiani family affect the works produced in this workshop? It is worth recalling how he treated his first wife, the daughter of Sharvashidze. Without apparent reason, he accused her of betrayal, having fallen in love with Nestan-Darejani, the beautiful wife of his uncle, Giorgi Lipartiani. Subsequently, he abducted his aunt and married her.

One of the most prominent representatives of abstract art, Wassily Kandinsky, said “The more frightening the world becomes…the more art becomes abstract.” In Europe of the 1910-20s, abstract or objectless art served as a “preface” to the First and Second World Wars, while in America of the 1940-50s, it was a post-traumatic condition caused by WWII, which also played a transitional role in postmodernism. In Georgia, abstraction emerged as a post-traumatic response to Stalinist art and as a “prophetic” expression of the country’s independence, against the backdrop of the civil war.

In medieval Georgia have been developed a number of local icon-painting styles, among which must be singled out so called Svaneti “school of icon-painting”. Although we don’t have documented evidence about these workshops, the extent material allows us to attribute to Svaneti, north-western highland region of Georgia, an impressive number of painted icons. Numerous icons preserved in the Saveneti Museum and in the local churches demonstrate stylistic and technical features which differ from the Pro-Byzantine stream of medieval Georgian religious painting. The icons produced in the workshops of Svaneti are in majority dating back to the 13th-15th cc. Most of the icons are not in their original place, but their subject, size and shape make us suppose that they were created for different purposes: for chancel barriers, burial places and for private devotion as well.

There are numerous statues by the sculptor Merab Berdzenishvili (1929–2016), both in Georgia and outside of it. Each of them, when considered separately, exhibits different aspects of the sculptor's individual handwriting, represents all of the indications of the time and era, and reveals the multitude of artistic trends, innovations, and changes that existed in the Georgian artistic space of the 20th century.

The history of Georgian fine arts has preserved the sad love story of two great artists. It was love with a tragic end that left an irreversible wound on Ketevan Magalashvili's noble soul and the entire cultural elite of Georgia. In 1938, Ketevan’s husband, Dimitri Shevardnadze, one of the most famous of Georgian artists, was labeled an "enemy of the people." Later, he was imprisoned and executed. They say that for a time afterwards, Ketevan refused to leave the house and locked herself in. According to her family members, she even stopped working, at a complete loss, asking again and again, "Why?" "What for?" No-one could answer these questions.

From the 1880s to 1910, a new stage began in Georgia’s fine arts development, propelled by professionally educated artists of the older generation that "gave birth" to modern Georgian secular painting. It was a move that partially broke the link with the Tiflis feudal, oriental, and portraiture painting school, which ceased to exist in 1880.

Esma Oniani's creative and personal worldview is based on an empirical exploration of pain, sadness, and vanity. In different languages, the word "worldview" presents peculiar linguistic transformations. The Germans, for example, express this idea with the term "Weltschmerz" (world pain), which refers to perceiving the world through spiritual pain. In Oniani’s creative work prevail epistemological beginnings based on cognition and ontological being. Man, as the central value in the world, shapes its cognitive existence. This principle is revealed in the anthropocentrism of Oniani’s poetry and painting, where every color, and everything – painting and word – are grounded in human emotions and expressiveness.