Dimitri Eristavi, a Georgian graphic artist, film artist, and book designer, was born in Tbilisi in 1931. In 1956, he graduated from the Faculty of Graphics of the Tbilisi State Academy of Arts, where his teachers were Ioseb Charlemani, Sergo Kobuladze, Vladimir Grigolia, and David Gabashvili. From 1962, he worked as a production designer at the Georgian Film Studio, while from 1967 he taught at the Tbilisi State Academy of Arts; from 1982, he was a professor.
The main fields of Eristavi’s creative work are graphic art, book illustration, genre composition, and theatre and film art. Portraiture and the theme of Tbilisi hold an important place in his work, including the graphic cycle “Old Tbilisi” (1972) and the portraits of M. Abazadze (1963), N. Eristavi (1965), and M. Machavariani (1973). His work is associated with the development of Georgian graphic art and book art in the second half of the 20th century.
He actively participated in exhibitions from 1957 and collaborated with Georgian periodicals, including the magazines “Niangi” and “Tsiskari” and the newspaper “Literaturnuli Sakartvelo”. An important direction of his work was film art: he designed the films “Me, Grandma, Iliko and Ilarion” (1962), “Giorgobistve” (1966), “An Extraordinary Exhibition” (1968), “There Was a Thrush Singing” (1970), “Moonstruck” and “And There Was Light” (1984), as well as “Express Information” (1993).
Important examples of his book graphics include the design and illustrations for Shakespeare’s “Hamlet”, “Georgian Folk Tales”, and “100 Georgians and 100 Episodes”. In 1979, an album of his graphic works was published, followed in 2010 by “Dimitri Eristavi. Graphics”. In 1985, Eristavi was awarded the title of People’s Artist of Georgia; in 1990, he received the State Prize of Georgia; and in 2006, the Shota Rustaveli State Prize. In 2016, he was named an honorary citizen of Tbilisi. His works are held in state museums and private collections.
Selected Works:
“Morning in the Suburb” (paper, pastel, 62 × 66 cm, 1962);
“Bus Stop” (1965);
“Hopscotch” (paper, pencil, 1965);
“Winter” (1959);
“Kindergarten” (1959);
“Lagidze Waters” (1965);
Poster for the film “The Wedding” (1965);
Poster for the film “Giorgobistve” (1966).
