"Hunting in India" presented to the public at the Shalva Amiranashvili Museum of Fine Arts

The Art Museum of Georgia (Shalva Amiranashvili Museum of Fine Arts) is one of the most important museums of Georgia. It is famous for its expositions , illustrating the development of national art and culture for many centuries - from ancient, pre-Christian times, to the present day. The Oriental Collection of the Museum is one of the largest in the post-Soviet space, impressing with its size and richness of the collections, including Persian miniatures depicting court beauties, portraits shahs and the nobility. Qajar art ( Persian fine arts of the Qajar Epoch) is the most significant part of the Oriental Collection.

The Museum has a unique collection of enamel, jewelry, decorative textiles 8 - 15th centuries. The museum has fragments of medieval architecture, fresco painting, mosaic, sculpture, woodcuts ...

In the Museum collection besides the works of the famous Georgian artists such as Niko Pirosmanishvili, Gigo Gabashvili, Jacob Nikoladze, Lado Gudiashvili, Helena Akhvlediani, David Kakabadze and others, the collections of Russian and Western European art of the 18th - 19th centuries - a total of 140 000 works of art (Georgian, Oriental, Russian and European).

These days, the famous Museum invites all lovers and aficionados of Georgian art to see a picture of Niko Pirosmani "Hunting in India", which was presented on January 15th. This is one of the largest and most unusual works by the artist.

The painting depicts two tiger, boar and bear in the rain forest.

Work on the restoration of paintings lasted for 10 years (restorers Nana Managadze and Evelina Carsely). According to the inventory of the Shalva Amiranashvili Museum of Fine Arts painting was acquired by the Museum of the writer David Kldiashvili in 1930 and in the same year it was introduced to a wide audience at the exhibition, held at the Moscow Museum of fine arts and the Museum of fine arts of the Georgian SSR, which was located in Metekhi castle from 1934 to 1942.

But then the painting was not complete: in the upper parts were missing fragment with the figure reaching men who were able to purchase only years later. In the 1970s, there was an attempt of restoration, but because of the extent of the damage picture of the coming work was so difficult that they had to be postponed. Preliminary restoration work began only in 2004.

The painting "Hunting in India" will be on display at the Shalva Amiranashvili Museum of Fine Arts until 31 January. The museum is open every day except Monday, from 11.00 to 17.00. Address: 1 Lado Gudiashvili Street