E77 Pirosmani

Gladio Free Europe

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On Easter 1918, Georgian painter Nikolo Pirosmani passed away in a hospital bed before he could be examined by a physician. This enigmatic naive artist whose works graced the walls of half the taverns of Tbilisi was only mildly famous in the avant-garde world when he drew his last breath. But after this corporal death, Pirosmani would live on, reaching a mythic stature. Songs and stories of the mad painter of the Caucasus have spread widely across the past century, to the point where it is difficult to separate the facts of his life from the stories which followed. So just who was this man, and how did he come to be recognized as THE national artist of Georgia?

This week on Gladio Free Europe, we will be looking at Pirosmani: the man, the legend, his exalted place in the Georgian heart, as well as Giorgi Shengelaia's 1969 film documenting all of this, Pirosmani. Upon its international release, American critics were entranced by its visuals but largely confused about its contents. We'll be setting the record straight on this film and the man who inspired it, doing our small part to bring recognition to an incredible artist who is an icon across the former Soviet world but still obscure in the West.