Georgia’s Culture Ministry exhibits 60 artworks from collection returned to Fine Arts Museum, National Gallery
The artworks are on public display until September 15. Photo: Ministry of Culture press office
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Georgia’s Ministry of Culture on Friday announced the exhibition of approximately 60 artworks at the Dimitri Shevardnadze National Gallery in Tbilisi, with the pieces comprising a group of works returned to the Shalva Amiranashvili Museum of Fine Arts and the National Gallery between 2021 and 2023 through its efforts.
The artworks, on public display until September 15, had been taken from vaults to be used at Georgian diplomatic missions, foreign offices and various organisations between 1993 and 2010. Some pieces were also temporarily taken by their authors in the 1980s and 1990s for “various reasons”, the Ministry said.
It added the National Museum had not requested their return until 2021 “despite the lengthy period” of the absence of the works, resulting in “many works being considered lost”, emphasising their return to art venues had been a “part of a deliberate process” initiated by it.
It added while removal of exhibits for temporary exhibitions or other purposes was permissible, deadlines for returning the featured works had not been adhered to, claiming the National Museum had failed to monitor and assess their condition.
The collection features works by artists including Sergo Kobuladze, Elene Akhvlediani, Edmond Kalandadze, Dimitri Khakhutashvili and Guram Kutateladze.
Among the items is also a still life by an unknown Russian academic artist from the late 18th century, initially acquired by the Museum in the 1930s and attributed to Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin. The painting had been stolen during a 1994 robbery and was only returned in 2023, the body said.
The Ministry also noted the National Gallery had received graphic and pictorial works by Grigory Gagarin, Lev Lagorio, Karl Zhukovsky, Eugene Lanceray, and Boris Fogel, “recognised for their significant historical, ethnographic, and artistic value for Georgia”. The works were returned to the Gallery from the Academy of Arts of Russia in 2021.