Gabashvili Georgy Ivanovich (Gabaev, Gigo, Grigory) 1862-1936
Painter, graphic artist.
He graduated from Tbilisi Realschule. He gained knowledge at the art studio of K. I. Keppen in Tbilisi (1880-1883). In 1883 he traveled to St. Petersburg in order to apply to the Imperial Academy of Arts, but was not admitted. From 1884 to 1885 he worked in the art studio of F. A. Rubo in St. Petersburg and in 1884 he accompanied Rubo on a trip to Kars. In 1886 he was admitted into the Imperial Academy of Arts as an extern and studied battle-painting from B. P. Villevalde (1886-1888). In 1888 he received a silver medal for encouragement.
In 1894 he travelled around Central Asia, visited Samarkand, Bukhara. In 1894 at the invitation of Rubo and on a scholarship he received from the Society for the Promotion of Literacy for Georgians, he moved to Munich to continue his education. He studied at the Munich Academy of Arts (1894-1897) where he learned from A. Wagner. In the summer of 1895 he visited Paris.
He lived in Tbilisi. In the summer of 1902 he travelled around Europe: Turkey, Greece, Italy, Spain, France, England, Holland, Switzerland, Austria.
He painted landscapes, portraits and genre paintings. He is the author of paintings: “Portrait of a Mother” (1883), “Self-Portrait” (1883), “St. Tskhoveli” (1884), “Kurdish Horseman” (1887), “Butcher” (1889), “After the Rain” (1891), “Mullah” (1892), “Three Citizens” (1893), “Georgian Woman with a Tambourine” (1893), “Bazaar in Samarkand” (1895), “The Divan Beg’s Pool in Bukhara” (1895), “Dabahana” (1896), “Kapellmeister de Rosa” (1902), “Portrait of the singer F. Koridze as Prince Gudal” (1902-1905), “Portrait of I. Chavchavadze” (1907-1908), “Portrait of A. Tsereteli” (1913). He created series of paintings “Bazaars in Samarkand” (1894-1897), “Khevsurian cycle” (1898-1899).
From 1888 he participated in exhibitions (Art Exhibition of the Caucasian Society for the Promotion of Fine Arts in Tbilisi). He was a founding member and exhibitor of the Georgian Art Society (1916-1921), Society of Georgian Artists (1922-1930). He participated in the Jubilee Exhibition of the People of USSR Art in Moscow (1927). He held solo exhibitions in Tbilisi (1891, 1898-1899, 1901, 1910, 1913, 1927, 1934).
One of the organizers (1922) and a lecturer at the Tbilisi Academy of Arts (1922-1930), professor. People’s Artist of the Georgian SSR from 1929.
Memorial exhibitions in his honor were held in Tbilisi (1940, 1951, 1958, 1963, 1966), Yerevan (1958) and Tskhinvala (1961).
From December 14, 2017 to May 30, 2018 a grand jubilee retrospective exhibition “Gigo Gabashvili 155” was held in Georgian National Museum.
His works are a part of many museum collections. The most significant collection of his works is kept in National Museum in Tbilisi.
