Gigo Gabashvili

Apollon Kutateladze is recorded as having studied under Gigo Gabashvili. Subjects and genres recorded for the work are portrait. Residence is recorded at Tbilisi. Employment is recorded with Tbilisi State Academy of Arts. Work by Gigo Gabashvili is recorded in the collections of Art Museum of Georgia and Georgian State Museum of Theatre, Music, Cinema and Choreography.

• Name — Gigo Gabashvili Гиго Габашвили • Native Name — Giorgy "Gigo" Gabashvili • Born — 9 November 1862 • Birthplace — Tiflis, Georgia, Russian Empire • Died — 28 October 1936 • Place of death — Tsikhisdziri, Kobuleti Municipality, Soviet Union • Movement — Realism, Orientalism • Education — Imperial Academy of Arts Munich Academy of Fine Arts

Born in Tbilisi, Georgia (then part of the Russian Empire), Gabashvili was educated at the Imperial Academy of Arts (1886–1888) and the Munich Academy of Fine Arts (1894–1897). Returning to his homeland, he made a debut as the first artist to have been honored with a solo exhibition in Tbilisi. From 1900 to 1920, he taught at the art school operated by the Caucasus Society for Promotion of Fine Arts. Gabashvili was one of the founding professors of the Tbilisi State Academy of Arts (1922) and was granted the title People's Illustrator of the Georgian SSR (1929). He taught among others Apollon Kutateladze and Elene Akhvlediani. Gabashvili remained a staunch realist and made known his opposition to left-wing art. He died in Tsikhisdziri, Kobuleti Municipality, Georgia, in 1936.

Gigo Gabashvili is best known for his series of vivid portraits of peasants, townsmen, and noblemen ("The Three Townsmen", 1893; "The Sleeping Khevsur", 1898; "The Drunk Khevsur", 1899; "A Kurd", 1903–1909; "The Three Generals", 1910; etc.) as well as multifigure scenes from Georgian ("Alaverdoba Festival", 1899) and Oriental life – many of them based on the sketches of his Central Asian journey in 1894 ("The Bazaar in Samarkand", 1894–1897; "The Divan-Bey Pool in Bukhara", 1897; etc.). Most of his works are now on display at the National Museum of Fine Arts in Tbilisi. His 1895 copy of "The Bazaar in Samarkand," created at the request of the U.S. diplomat and businessman Charles R. Crane who met him during his travel in the Caucasus, was sold for USD 1.36 million at Christie’s in 2006.

• Illustration — The Bazaar in Samarkand, c. 1890s • Illustration — Old Citizen, c. 1890s • Illustration — The Bukharians, c. 1890s • Illustration — Drunk Khevsur, 1899