Niko Pirosmani facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Niko Pirosmani
Pirosmani, 1916
Born	Nikoloz Aslanis Dze Pirosmanashvili 5 May 1862 Mirzaani, Tiflis Governorate, Russian Empire
Died	9 April 1918(1918-04-09) (aged 55) Tbilisi, Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic
Nationality	Georgian
Education	Self-taught
Known for	Painting
Movement	Naïve art

Niko Pirosmani (Georgian: ნიკო ფიროსმანი), also known as Nikala (ნიკალა), was a famous Georgian painter. He lived from 1862 to 1918. Niko Pirosmani is known for his unique style called naïve art. This means he taught himself to paint and didn't go to art school.

For most of his life, Pirosmani was quite poor. He worked many regular jobs to make a living. But after he passed away, his paintings became very famous. Today, his artworks are loved because they show what Georgia was like during his time. He is now one of Georgia's most cherished artists.

Life Story of Niko Pirosmani

Niko Pirosmani was born in 1862 in a small Georgian village called Mirzaani. His parents, Aslan Pirosmanashvili and Tekle Toklikishvili, were farmers. They had a small vineyard and some animals. Sadly, Niko became an orphan when he was young. His two older sisters, Mariam and Pepe, took care of him.

In 1870, Niko moved with his sisters to Tbilisi, a big city. He worked as a servant for rich families. This is how he learned to read and write in both Russian and Georgian. In 1876, he went back to Mirzaani and worked as a herdsman, looking after animals.

Becoming an Artist

Pirosmani taught himself how to paint little by little. He often painted directly onto black oilcloth, which was a special skill of his. In 1882, he opened a painting workshop with his friend George Zaziashvili, who was also self-taught. They made signboards for shops.

Niko also had other jobs. In 1890, he worked as a railroad conductor. In 1893, he helped start a dairy farm in Tbilisi, but he left it in 1901. Because he was poor, Pirosmani took many ordinary jobs. He painted houses and whitewashed buildings. He also created signs, paintings, and portraits for shopkeepers in Tbilisi.

Even though about 200 of his paintings still exist and were popular locally, he didn't get along well with professional artists. For him, earning money was always more important than fancy art ideas.

His Final Years

Niko Pirosmani passed away in April 1918. He died during a big worldwide sickness called the 1918 flu pandemic. He was also very weak from not having enough food and had problems with his liver. He was buried in Nino cemetery, but the exact spot of his grave is not known today.

Pirosmani's Artworks

A Tatar Fruiterer, 1910, Georgian National Museum

Pirosmani's paintings show us what life was like in Georgia during his time. He painted many scenes of merchants, shopkeepers, workers, and noble people. He really loved nature and country life. You won't find many city scenes in his art.

Animals and People

He painted many animals, and he was the only Georgian artist who focused so much on them. Pirosmani also liked to paint famous historical figures like Shota Rustaveli and Queen Tamar. But he also painted everyday Georgian people and their daily lives.

Pirosmani usually painted on oilcloth. Unlike other artists, he didn't try to make his paintings look exactly like real life. He didn't pay much attention to small details. Some of his paintings use only one color, which is called monochrome. His artworks show that he thought carefully about how to arrange things in his pictures. The people in his paintings often face forward, and their faces don't show a specific mood.

Becoming Known

In the 1910s, some Russian artists and poets, like Mikhail Le-Dantyu and Ilia Zdanevich, became very interested in Pirosmani's work. Ilia Zdanevich wrote a letter about Pirosmani that was published in a newspaper in 1913. He helped show Pirosmani's paintings in Moscow. A Moscow newspaper even wrote about an exhibition where four of Pirosmani's works were shown. Critics were very impressed with his talent.

Later in the same year, an article about Niko Pirosmani and his art was published in a Georgian newspaper.

In 1916, a group called the Society of Georgian Painters invited Pirosmani to their meetings. They started to support him, but his relationship with them was not always easy. He gave them his painting "Georgian Wedding." However, one member drew a funny picture of him, which made Pirosmani very upset. His life ended with his work not being fully recognized, partly because he was still poor and because of problems from the First World War.

Fame After Death

Niko Pirosmani on Georgian lari.

After Niko Pirosmani died, his art became famous around the world, especially in Paris. People admired him as a "naïve" painter. His paintings were shown in the first big exhibition of Georgian painters in 1918. From the 1920s onwards, many articles were written about him. The first book about Pirosmani was published in 1926 in Georgian, Russian, and French.

Interest in Pirosmani grew even more in the 1950s.

In 1969, a movie about his life called Pirosmani was made. Even the famous artist Pablo Picasso was inspired by him and drew a portrait sketch of Pirosmani in 1972. You can also see Pirosmani's face on a Georgian lari bill, which is the money used in Georgia. A newspaper named Pirosmani is published in Istanbul. In 1983, Edward Kuznetsov created the first complete list of all Pirosmani's known artworks.

Exhibitions and Museums

Pirosmani's paintings have been shown in many cities around the world. These include Kyiv (1931), Warsaw (1968), Paris (The Louvre) (1969), Vienna (1969), Tokyo (1986), and many others.

Today, 146 of his paintings are displayed in the Art Museum of Georgia. Sixteen other paintings are in the Historical-Ethnographic Museum of Sighnaghi. There is also a statue of him in Tbilisi. You can visit the Niko Pirosmanashvili Museum in Mirzaani, Georgia, which is in one of the places he used to live.

New Discoveries

In March 2011, experts found out that some writing on a wine-cellar door in Ozaani was made by Pirosmani himself. On May 31, 2011, during an investigation, another painting was discovered. It turned out to be "Wounded Soldier" by Pirosmani. This painting was given to the National Gallery of Georgia.

Paintings

See also

In Spanish: Niko Pirosmani para niños