Giorgi "Gigo" Ivanes dze Gabashvili ( ka, გიორგი
იგოივანეს ძე გაბაშვილი) (November 9, 1862 – October 28, 1936) was a
Georgian painter and educator. One of the earliest Georgian representatives of the
Realist School of Georgian painting, his work is known for covering a wide range of subjects, landscapes and scenes of everyday life through
orientalist lens. Although not widely known in
the West, Gabashvili's paintings are highly valued - the artist's late 19th century painting ''The Bazaar in Samarkand'', originally commissioned by
Charles Richard Crane, sold for $1.36 million
dollars at
Christie's
Christie's is a British auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie (auctioneer), James Christie. Its main premises are on King Street, St James's in London, at Rockefeller Center in New York City and at Alexandra House in Hong Kong. It is ...
in 2006.
Biography
Born in
Tbilisi, Georgia (then part of the
Russian Empire), Gabashvili was educated at the
Imperial Academy of Arts (1886–1888) and the
Munich Academy of Fine Arts (1894–1897). Returning to his homeland, he made a debut as the first artist to have been honored with a solo exhibition in Tbilisi. From 1900 to 1920, he taught at the art school operated by the Caucasus Society for Promotion of Fine Arts. Gabashvili was one of the founding professors of the
Tbilisi State Academy of Arts (1922) and was granted the title of the
People's Artist of the
Georgian SSR (1929). He taught among others
Apollon Kutateladze and
Elene Akhvlediani. Gabashvili remained a staunch realist and made known his opposition to left-wing art. He died in Tsikhisdziri,
Kobuleti Municipality,
Georgia, in 1936.
Works
Gigo Gabashvili is best known for his series of vivid portraits of peasants, townsmen, and noblemen ("The Three Townsmen", 1893; "The Sleeping
Khevsur", 1898; "The Drunk Khevsur", 1899; "A
Kurd ug:كۇردلار
Kurds ( ku, کورد ,Kurd, italic=yes, rtl=yes) or Kurdish people are an Iranian peoples, Iranian ethnic group native to the mountainous region of Kurdistan in Western Asia, which spans southeastern Turkey, northwestern Ir ...
", 1903–1909; "The Three Generals", 1910; etc.) as well as multifigure scenes from Georgian ("
Alaverdoba Festival", 1899) and
Oriental
The Orient is a term for the East in relation to Europe, traditionally comprising anything belonging to the Eastern world. It is the antonym of ''Occident'', the Western World. In English, it is largely a metonym for, and coterminous with, the ...
life – many of them based on the sketches of his
Central Asian journey in 1894 ("The Bazaar in
Samarkand
fa, سمرقند
, native_name_lang =
, settlement_type = City
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from the top:Registan square, Shah-i-Zinda necropolis, Bibi-Khanym Mosque, view inside Shah-i-Zinda, ...
", 1894–1897; "The Divan-Bey Pool in
Bukhara
Bukhara (Uzbek language, Uzbek: /, ; tg, Бухоро, ) is the List of cities in Uzbekistan, seventh-largest city in Uzbekistan, with a population of 280,187 , and the capital of Bukhara Region.
People have inhabited the region around Bukhara ...
", 1897; etc.). Most of his works are now on display at the
National Museum of Fine Arts in Tbilisi. His 1895 copy of "The Bazaar in Samarkand," created at the request of the
U.S. diplomat and businessman
Charles R. Crane
Charles Richard Crane (August 7, 1858 – February 15, 1939) was a wealthy American businessman, heir to a large industrial fortune and connoisseur of Arab culture, a noted Arabist. His widespread business interests gave him entree into domestic a ...
who met him during his travel in the
Caucasus, was sold for USD 1.36 million at
Sotheby's in 2006.
The Golden Road to Samarkand: the Rebirth of Gigo Gabashvili's Art
. ''Georgia Today''. January 12, 2007.
Gallery
File:Gigo Gabashvili.JPG, ''The Bazaar in Samarkand'', c. 1890s
File:Gigo Gabashvili. Old citizen.jpg, ''Old Citizen'', c. 1890s
File:Gigo Gabashvili. Bukharians.jpg, ''The Bukharian''s, c. 1890s
File:Gigo Gabashvili. Drunk Khevsur.jpg, ''Drunk Khevsur'', 1899
Notes and references
External links
on The Georgian Museum of Photography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gabashvili, Gigo
1862 births
1936 deaths
Artists from Tbilisi
People's Artists of Georgia
20th-century painters from Georgia (country)
Academic staff of the Tbilisi State Academy of Arts
Painters from the Russian Empire
Russian male painters