(born Niko Pirosmanashvili; May 5, 1862-1918) was a Georgian primitivist painter. Pirosmani was born in the Georgian village of Mirzaani to a pleasant family in the Kakheti province. His family owned a small vineyard. He was later orphaned and put in the care of his two elder sisters. He moved with them to Tbilisi in 1870. In 1872 he worked as a servant for wealthy families and learned to read and write Russian and Georgian. In 1876 he returned to Mirzaani and worked as a herdsman. Pirosmani gradually taught himself to paint. One of his specialties was painting directly into black oilcloth. In 1882 he opened a workshop in Tbilisi which was unsuccessful. In 1890 he worked as a railroad conductor, and in 1895 worked creating signboards. In 1893 he co-founded a dairy farm in Tbilisi which he left in 1901. Throughout his life Pirosmani, who was always poor, was willing to take up ordinary jobs including housepainting and whitewashing buildings. Although his paintings had some local popularity (about 200 survive) his relationship with professional artists remained uneasy; making a living was always more important to him than abstract aesthetics.  Related Paintings of Niko Pirosmanashvili :. | Kakhetian Epos - Alasan Valley | A Doe Walking | Organ-Grinder | Reclining Woman | Easter Lambkin A paschal lamb |
Related Artists:
Pericles Pantazis
(Athens, 1849-1884) was a major Greek impressionist painter of the 19th century that gained a great reputation as an artist initially in Belgium. Pantazis studied painting at the Athens School of Fine Arts from 1861 to 1871 with Nikiforos Lytras as his teacher. He continued for one year his studies in Munich and he then left for Marseille and Paris.In Paris he was taught by Gustave Courbet and Antoine Chintreuil. At this period he was introduced to the works of Eugene Boudin, Johan Barthold Jongkind and of the impressionists Manet, Camille Pissarro and Degas. In 1873, with a reference letter from Manet, he moved to Brussels in Belgium. A notable Greek wine businessman Jean Économou was particularly interested in his skills and commissioned a large number of Pantazis paintings. In Belgium, Pantazis became a member of an anti-academic artistic group called Circle de la pâte (meaning the circle of colour), and a member of Les XX. He became close friends with painter Guillaume Vogels and sculptor Auguste Philippette whose sister he married few years later. In Brussels, initially he worked as a home decorator for Guillaume Vogels but later he was dedicated to painting as he became increasingly known for his talent. In 1878 he represented Greece at the International Art Biennalle of Paris. He died before he turned 35 years old from chronic tuberculosis.
ALBOTTO Francesco
1721-1753
F. Cayley Robinson
British Painter and Illustrator, 1862-1927