Nikko Culture Biography

Simple, seemingly paintings by Nico Pirosmani - portraits, still lifes, images of animals - bring it closer to the works that went down in the history of painting. The restrained palette of his paintings, which are not canvases-he often wrote on the oilcloth,-reports eternal images that are so close and understandable to everyone. The wandering artist created signs for Tiflis perfumes on tin and wrote household scenes like a feast in a village or meetings of a childless rich woman with a large poor woman ...

Signs that struck the Zdanevichs so over time, almost all disappeared - in difficult years in Georgia they made furnace pipes. Also, a little has been preserved from his oilcloths. What has come down to us today is stored in the museums of Russia and Georgia. Pictures hang on the walls ... We look at them amazed, confused - before us a painting, like which we have never seen!

Absolutely original, she was the miracle that we were looking for. The apparent simplicity of the paintings was imaginary. It was easily possible to see the echoes of the ancient cultures of the East, but the traditions of popular Georgian art prevailed. ” Unfortunately, the memories of contemporaries are scattered and incomplete about him. Even the date of birth is not fully defined - about a year.

A native of a peasant family, he was born in the village of Mirzaani in Kakheti. Early orphaned. He lived in a wealthy family of the Kalantarovs in Tiflis, where the boy was given to service. However, Nico lived with “important gentlemen” well: he was raised as his own son, learned to the Georgian and Russian language, indulged his passion with painting.

In general, the Kalantarians loved the orphan and in every possible way protected his thin nature. There were many children in the house, he grew up with them, participated in their games. They played the theater in the courtyard, and he, excited, fussed and rustled with everyone - he loved the theater ... On the other hand, there was something unusual in it, distinguished him from others - he painted remarkably, was like a family artist, a certain attraction of the house.

All this must be, and determined the unusualness of his position. ” The art critic Erast Kuznetsov had his own room, he was taken with him to the theater and prayer to the temple. When Nico was 20 years old, they took to the photographer to make a portrait. On it we see a well -groomed and well -dressed young man. The reverent attitude of the Kalantar family played in the formation of a young man in a double role: he retained the purity of the soul and a good attitude to the world and at the same time was not adapted to the hardships of adulthood.

Of course, he tried to get a profession - at the age of 28 he got a guide to the Transcaucasian Railway. The worker from Pirosmanishvili turned out to be not very responsible. He was late for work, violated official instructions, for which he received fines from the authorities. In addition, he was often sick ... In general, his service did not set.

Four years later, Nico resigned. And again he was without a profession, without a home, without a position ... For a weekend, a manual and friends employed by friends opened his own milk shop. He rented a small room, which was decorated with images of the cows, and above the entrance he painted a beautiful sign. His affairs went uphill. He distributed debts and even began to make a profit.

But a businessman from Pirosmani did not work - after a few years he went bankrupt. The reasons are still unclear: either the companion friend deceived, or fatal love happened ... "Pirosmanashvili met a woman whom he fell in love with life. The singer and dancer from cafesantan, Frenchwoman Margarita, beautiful and elegant, struck the imagination of Nico. He could not recover from amazement, Margot seemed to him "a beautiful angel who descended from the sky." Happy Nico joyfully gave his heart and, without hesitation, all his condition.

And then the huge black eyes of Mademoiselle Margarita looked at Nico for the last time; She disappeared forever, breaking the life of the artist. ” The rejected Pirosmani was not hardened, but forgave Margarita. On his portrait, the actress is depicted in a white dress, with a bouquet of flowers, in the middle of meadows. It does not stand on Earth, but soars, like an angel, and only two felled trees are a symbol of the failed feeling of two.

Nico Pirosmani was an artist-samorodk and an artist-wrestler. Without a refuge, he traveled and drew to order, but his work was worth a penny. He accepted his fate and did not resist her. Painting was the only craft that he was capable of. Although he never received any special education. He painted the life that he knew and loved: the heroes of his paintings-sellers, fellow villagers, women with children ...

An amazing images of animals are amazing-by Lviv, Giraffe, deer of human eyes ... In the year in Moscow, an exhibition of painting by the artists of the target "Michens" took place. In May, Zdanevich arranged a one -day exhibition of Pirosmanni's works in Tiflis. Whether Nico himself was on her is unknown. Several paintings of the artist collected in one place forced the public to talk about him as a phenomenon in Georgian culture.

The newspapers argued: some rejected his art, others admired. It seems to me that with the advent of his paintings, my life has become richer, happier.When I admire Pirosmanni’s paintings, I feel the powerful forces and juices of the Earth, enclosed in Nickeeping oilcloths, update me, ”wrote the artist David Kakabadze. The Georgian art society even found the artist and invited to the meeting.

Knowing about life difficulties, they collected and handed him 10 rubles. The proud Pirosmani did not like alms, but accepted the money with the words that he would buy paints on them and write a picture for art society. And he restrained his word - a few days later brought the canvas "Wedding in Georgia of the past." Nobody saw him more at the meetings of society ...

The glory that fell upon the artist quickly gave way to mockery - a caricature of Nico Pirosmani came out in the newspaper. Most likely, it was a backstage struggle of supporters and opponents of his artistic manner - primitivism. Pirosmani, of course, was far from intrigue and hardly knew about them, but the publication hurt the artist. In his hearts, he broke all the works that he had previously been proud of.

Buried as homeless and mediocre. The place of his grave is still unknown. His painting was imperishable. For Pirosmanni, the sign was not a craft, but a real painting, from which it grew large, albeit naive, art. In publications.