Tbilisi exhibits unseen works by late Georgian painter Shalva Kikodze

Georgia is hosting an exhibition of previously unseen works by late Georgian modernist painter Shalva Kikodze (1894-1921) to celebrate the 120th birthday of the popular artist.

Known for his diverse paintings, Kikodze was considered a promising artist but died at a young age due to poor health.

The National Gallery in capital Tbilisi will open the exhibition on Friday to honour the creative legacy of the painter. For six weeks the gallery will exhibit roughly 300 works, most of which have never been on public display before, and collected from private archives and vaults of the Georgian National Museum.

On display are paintings, book illustrations, sketches, political caricatures and Kikodze's correspondence with Georgian public figures of the early 20th Century.

Adjarian Women in Chadors by Shalva Kikodze.

Exhibition visitors will also be able to attend a presentation of an album of illustrations by art critics Maia Tsitsishvili and Irine Abesadze, titled Shalva Kikodze - 120. Publication of the album was supported by the Ministry of Culture and Monument Protection of Georgia.

Tsitsishvili and Abesadze also worked as organisers of the exhibition alongside Ministry of Culture expert Nino Tchoghoshvili.

Born in Georgia in 1894, Kikodze received his artistic education in Moscow then went on to create artwork in Georgia and abroad. His paintings were exhibited alongside other popular Georgian painters Lado Gudiashvili and David Kakabadze in Paris in 1921.

Known for his painting a diverse range of themes, including city life in Tbilisi and Paris, Kikodze was considered a budding artist in the years of the Georgian Democratic Republic but he died aged 27 in Freiburg, Germany due to health complications.

The exhibition will run until February 10, 2016.