NEW COLLECTION OF THE MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS, 2021-2022

In 2021–2022, the Ministry of Culture and Sport of Georgia was able to add new acquisitions to the Shalva Amiranashvili State Museum of Fine Art’s collection of modern and contemporary Georgian art. These are the works of 113 Georgian artists that the museum did not hold or represented insufficiently. The new collection demonstrates an impressive picture of Georgian artistic development: A new collection of graphics by 1950s/1970s artists. Acquired works were limited to artists whose creativity made a significant contribution to the development of Georgian graphic art. (Selection was led by art historian Mariam Gachechiladze). The collection also includes works acquired after the first group exhibition of non-conformist artists held in the Sighnaghi Museum. Additionally, works by modernist artist Valerian Sidamon-Eristavi from the 1930s were purchased, a number of which depict the construction of Baku’s industrial zone. In 2022, 73 works by the great Georgian artist Sergo Kobuladze were purchased. The new collection also includes artworks donated by the artists whose exhibitions were held at the Dimitri Shevardnadze National Gallery from October 20, 2021 to the present. The most significant, however, was the acquisition of paintings by the artists of the 1980s/1990s generation. This period is considered as a watershed moment in Georgian painting and the start of a new stage. In the begining of the 1980s “For the first time, young artists declared that painting is much more than its existing dogmatic representation: there was a desire to use the language of painting to depict much more than the manipulation of the “painting” problem,” wrote Karlo Kacharava. Furthermore, the 1990s were one of the most dramatic years in Georgian history, making it difficult to think rationally about where we were; however, artistic activities were not interrupted and continued despite the harshest social background in the former centers of the collapsed system. The artists who emerged in the 1990s were the “last Soviet generation.” As a result, by purchasing the works of these artists, we hoped to place samples of the Georgian art scene from this multifaceted difficult period in the museum space. This is, on the one hand, an expression of gratitude to the artists who did not stop working even in the most difficult times, and on the other hand, it is a peculiar demonstration of the gradual and not easy process of integration into Europe, which was and continues to be quite forced after escaping from years of isolation. It also shows the reflection that is already occurring in the Georgian space, which is also important. The variety of Georgian Painting represented by this collection is a compilation of unique artistic choices, allowing us to comprehend how each artist decided to go over the constraints of the local context and connect his or her own experience with contemporary trends. The new collection of modern and contemporary Georgian art (722 works) of the Shalva Amiranashvili State Museum of Fine Arts will be exhibited over the course of several months. In parallel, the Sighnaghi Museum is exhibiting an exhibition of works by Valerian Sidamon-Eristavi from the new collection.

Head of the project Alexandra Gabunia

The opening: 10.08.2022 | 16:00
Duration: 10.08-10.09.2022

August 10, 2022 D. Shevardnadze National Gallery also presents the catalogue“ NEW COLLECTION OF THE MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS, 2021-2022”, in the frame of the project NEW COLLECTION OF THE MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS.

Address: D. Shevardnadze National Gallery, 11 Shota Rustaveli Ave. Tbilisi, Georgia.