Unseen works by renowned painter Irakli Parjiani exhibited in Tbilisi

Illustrations by a Georgian painter, who was posthumously awarded several of the country’s highest honours, are going on display for the first time in Georgia’s capital Tbilisi to mark the painter’s birthday.

From September 5-20 previously unseen work by renowned painter Irakli Parjiani will be on display at Art Palace in central Tbilisi.

The theme of the exhibition will be The Gospels of St. Mark and St. John and will include a collection of images created by the painter in 1976. The works will be presented for public viewing for the first time to mark the 65th anniversary of the painter’s birth.

The exhibition was collaboratively organised by Art Palace and Baia Gallery, and the collection was a representation of Parjiani’s preferred genre of religious illustrations.

"Boats” by Irakli Parjiani.

Parjiani, born in 1950, graduated from Tbilisi State Academy of Arts in 1974 and worked as a freelance artist. The artist worked in Germany throughout 1989-1990 and was featured in exhibitions in Berlin and Barcelona.

His work included illustrations for Goethe’s Faust, Homer’s Odyssey as well as Georgian and German fairytales.

Parjiani died in Tbilisi in 1991, aged 41. Since his passing his work has been exhibited in Tbilisi and throughout Europe.

The painter was posthumously awarded the State Prize of Georgia in 1992 and the Pirosmani Prize in 1996.

The exhibition will launch at 7pm on September 5.