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Pirosmani

A Legend in "Naïve" Art

August 2 - October 7, 2007

Since its establishment, Pera Museum has hosted works by several outstanding artists representing different genres. In 2007, the museum opened its doors to one of the most intriguing creative artists in the world, the Georgian peasant painter Pirosmani. This exhibition of Pirosmani’s naïve paintings took us on a journey through joyous feasts of colour, scent, and forms, through the blossoming meadows, villages, and animals of a neighbouring country.

Recognized only by his immediate circle while he was still alive, Pirosmani gained acknowledgment in the 1920s and 30s, particularly in the Western art circles, in which primitive and naïve artists were starting to be appreciated. Since then, his paintings continue to fascinate art connoisseurs in the world with their unprecedented sincerity and charm

Niko Pirosmani was born to a peasant family in one of the regions of Georgia - Kakheti, in the village of Mirzaani. During his life, most of which he spent in Tbilisi, he never received any professional education. In 1882, he opened a studio with another painter, Gigo Zaziashvili, accepting commissions for signboards. However, the partners soon went bankrupt. For mere subsistence, he occasionally worked in Tbilisi “dukhans” (tavern), or at the rail station, dying in poverty in Tbilisi, in 1918.

Today, Pirosmani is known across the world and his art has long reached beyond the borders of his native country.

Exhibition Catalogue

Pirosmani

Pirosmani

Since its establishment, Pera Museum has hosted works by several outstanding artists representing different genres. In 2007, the museum opened its doors to one of the most intriguing creative...

Video

Niko Pirosmani

Niko Pirosmani

“A nameless Egyptian fresco, an African idol or a vase from Crete: we should behold Pirosmani’s art among them. Only this way it is possible to conceive it genuinely … …You see Pirosmani – you believe in Georgia”.
Grigol Robakidze

The First Nudes

The First Nudes

Men were the first nudes in Turkish painting. The majority of these paintings were academic studies executed in oil paint; they were part of the education of artists that had finally attained the opportunity to work from the live model. The gender of the models constituted an obstacle in the way of characterizing these paintings as ‘nudes’. 

The Rat Tribe Sim Chi Yin

The Rat Tribe Sim Chi Yin

Pera Museum, in collaboration with Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (İKSV), is one of the main venues for this year’s 15th Istanbul Biennial from 16 September to 12 November 2017.