Switzerland’s Beyeler Foundation museum hosts over 85,000 visitors at exhibition of Georgia's Pirosmani

The Ministry of Culture on Friday said more than 85,000 people visited the exhibition of Georgia's iconic self-taught painter Niko Pirosmani hosted at the Fondation Beyeler, the most visited museum of art in Switzerland, during the 19 weeks.

The body added the exhibition received “positive reviews” from international media, such as Financial Times, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Le Monde and Neue Zürcher Zeitung. 

Running between September 17 to January 28 the exhibition was launched as a result of cooperation with the Georgian Culture Ministry, organised by the Fondation Beyeler and Denmark’s Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, with the support of the Infinitart Foundation.

Before this, the Pirosmani display was showcased at Denmark's most popular venue, the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art from May to August. 

This is the first and historic occasion when Pirosmani's work was presented on such a large scale in Europe. 48 works of Pirosmani were presented in Denmark and Switzerland”, the Ministry said.

The Georgian National Museum, with the support of the Culture Ministry, signed a memorandum of cooperation with the Fondation Beyeler and Louisiana Museum in September 2022. The memorandum envisages long-term cooperation in museum activities for the implementation of restoration and conservation and educational projects.

Born in the village of Mirzaani in eastern Georgia’s Kakheti province in 1862, Pirosmani took an early interest in painting, however, he never received formal art training.

Moving to the capital Tbilisi, he made a living painting shop plaques, portraits and landscapes for bar owners, but never managed to escape poverty during his life in Georgia's capital, struggling to find work opportunities.

His work was discovered by prominent Georgian artists Lado Gudiashvili, David Kakabadze and Kirill Zdanevich before Pirosmani's mark on the art scene of the early decades of the 20th century began to be recognised widely.