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Koki Makharadze 95
6 February 18:00 - 7 March 18:00
Koki Makharadze Anniversary Exhibition at the Dimitri Shevardnadze National Gallery of Georgia
From February 6 to March 7, 2026, the Dimitri Shevardnadze National Gallery of Georgia will host an anniversary exhibition dedicated to the Georgian artist Koki Makharadze, one of the outstanding representatives of monumental painting. This exhibition marks the artist’s first solo exhibition.
Koki Makharadze emerged on the artistic scene in the 1950s–60s and, within the framework of Socialist Realism, developed a highly individual visual language characterized by symbolist, metaphor-laden compositions rooted in distinctly national themes.
During his years of study at the Academy (1943–1953), Makharadze’s artistic explorations were closely tied to the traditions of historical painting and academic realism. He studied under Apolon Kutateladze and Ucha Japaridze. A separate body of his work comprises a series of Socialist Realist paintings produced in the 1960s–70s.
From the 1970s onward, Makharadze’s practice entered a phase of new artistic inquiry and successful experimentation. Graphic sketches created during his travels in India, Africa, Italy, and Cuba—distinguished by high artistic and technical refinement—evolved into free painterly compositions charged with emotional and expressive intensity, marked by unconventional viewpoints and a vivid, luminous palette.
In the 1980s, his style underwent a further transformation. A mystical expressiveness, dominated by red and black, emerged, particularly in the Venice and India series. Works devoted to Georgian themes are characterized by sharp dynamism of form and strong chromatic contrasts (With Fire and Sword, Ascension, views of Tbilisi). The abstraction of the background and radiant flashes of bright colors—red, yellow, and white—imbue the pictorial surface with powerful emotional tension.
The exhibition features Koki Makharadze’s iconic monumental canvas Georgian Land, a later version of which adorned the foyer of Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University for many years. In addition, series and graphic sketches created in the 1970s–80s are presented to the public for the first time.
The exhibition will open on February 6 at 6:00 PM and will remain open to the public through March 7.