About the collection

Niko Pirosmanashvili, a Georgian painter and one of the most prominent representatives of Georgian art of the early XX century, was born in the village of Mirzaani in Kakheti. He didn′t get any special education in art. For some period he  painted signboards for the wine-cellars and taverns of Tbilisi, and that somehow determined the themes of his pictures: carousing scenes,  typical characters of Tbilisi, specific still-lives, but he was not limited only by these topics, he created a number of remarkable portraits. He was the only Georgian artist of that time, who worked in the animalist genre. His works were “discovered” by the avant-garde artists, brothers – Ilia and  Kirile Zdanevich, and Michael Le-Dantu in 1912  . Niko Pirosmani died  in one of the cellars of Tbilisi in 1918. Besides the efforts of some young avant-garde artists, Pirosmani′s works were appreciated properly only after his death.

The picture “A Woman Milking a Cow” belongs to a genre scene depicting  village life and nature, which is one of the most valuable exhibit of the museum from an artistic point of view. In this picture the characteristic signs of Pirosmani’s works are given: laconic composition, frontality of figures or strict, intensive color. Pirosmani's sister Pepe is depicted on the picture. She was a part of the rural peace that remained so far from the city.

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