Tbilisi museum to unveil book on easel painting history in Georgia
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Locals and visitors of Tbilisi interested in historical art forms are invited to a presentation of art historian Irina Arsenishvili’s book on the history of easel painting in Georgia at the Georgian National Museum.
Arsenishvili’s work, titled Georgian Easel Painting, studies the art form’s development in Georgia from the second half of the 18th century to the 1920s.
It also studies local practices of the technique — involving painting on portable support as opposed to a wall — with comparative Russian and European tendencies.
Artist Mose Toidze's 1903 work 'Laundress'. Photo: 'Georgian Easel Painting' book illustration.
Arsenishvili’s research looks at maiden samples of the art form in Georgia as well as work by pioneering professional artists including Gigo Gabashvili and Mose Toidze.
Her book also includes a review of easel artwork by later-period creators including Elene Akhvlediani and Ketevan Maghalashvili.
An abstract for the book said the technique underwent "acceleration, contraction, uneven development” in Georgia in the 18th century.
Ketevan Maghalashvili's portrait of painter Elene Akhvlediani, dating to 1924. Photo: 'Georgian Easel Painting' book illustration.
Compounded by specific political, social and economic circumstances in the country, its practices had "no clearly defined regularities of stylistic development”, said the summary.
Easel technique became more popular than mural painting in Europe starting in the late medieval period.
Georgian Easel Painting was first published in English language in the United States in 2009.
The digital version of the book is available from the official website of its US publisher here.
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