Niko Pirosmani

Born Nikoloz Pirosmanashvili in 1862, he moved through a string of ordinary work to get by, painting when he could. His subjects were the Georgia around him — plain scenes, everyday moments, rendered in a style that didn't register with his contemporaries. He remained relatively poor throughout his life. He died in 1918, still obscure. Only afterward did the work find its audience: those rustic depictions of Georgian life, once dismissed, became treasured records of a vanished world. Today he stands as one of Georgia's most beloved artistic figures, celebrated for what he painted when no one w…