Avto Varazi was born in Tbilisi on October 25, 1926. During the 1960s and 1970s, he was one of the key figures in Georgian artistic and intellectual circles. His studio and creative stance constituted the environment in which post-war unofficial art and non-conformist movements originated and developed, making him a defining authority for generations of Georgian creators. An uncompromising artist in both life and art, he was free from Soviet academic clichés: his art was built not on the external description of objects, but on their internal structural connections, while in painting he sought the metaphorical and conceptual possibilities of color. Varazi’s work is distinguished by profound analytical and psychological depth, which is particularly evident in his portraiture, where the existential and spiritual states of man are reflected. The confirmation of his international recognition and significance is the exhibition held in May 1977 at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York, where his famous work “Bull’s Head” is preserved to this day.

Selected works:
Saw on a Blue Background (1964, mixed media, 60 x 15 cm)
Violin (1974, mixed media, 51.5 x 70 cm)
Portrait of a Girl (1965, oil on canvas, 50.5 x 40 cm)
Portrait of Vakhtang Rurua (1962, oil on canvas, 80 x 60 cm)
Beatrice (1963, wood, tennis racket, bell, wire, oil)
Manana with a Wrap (1971, cardboard, oil, fabric, sea grass, poster)