Gigo Gabashvili

Gigo Gabashvili
Gabashvili, c. early 1900s
Native name	Giorgy "Gigo" Gabashvili
Born	(1862-11-09)November 9, 1862 Tiflis, Georgia, Russian Empire
Died	October 28, 1936(1936-10-28) (aged 73) Tsikhisdziri, Kobuleti Municipality, Georgia
Movement	Realism, Orientalism

Giorgi "Gigo" Ivanes dze Gabashvili (Georgian: გიორგი [გიგო] ივანეს ძე გაბაშვილი) (November 9, 1862 – October 28, 1936) was a Georgian painter and educator. One of the earliest Georgian representatives of the Realist School, his work is known for covering a wide range of subjects, landscapes and scenes of everyday life through orientalist lens. Although not widely known in the West, Gabashvili's paintings are highly valued - the artist's late 19th century painting The Bazaar in Samarkand, originally commissioned by Charles Richard Crane, sold for $1.36 million dollars at Christie's in 2006.

Born in Tbilisi, Georgia (then part of the Russian Empire), Gabashvili was educated at the Imperial Academy of Arts (1886–1888) and the Munich Academy of Fine Arts (1894–1897). Returning to his homeland, he made a debut as the first artist to have been honored with a personal exhibition in Tbilisi. From 1900 to 1920, he taught at the art school operated by the Caucasus Society for Promotion of Fine Arts. Gabashvili was one of the founding professors of the Tbilisi State Academy of Arts (1922) and was granted the title of the People's Artist of the Georgian SSR (1929). Gabashvili remained a staunch realist and made known his opposition to left-wing art. He died in Tsikhisdziri, Kobuleti Municipality, Georgia, in 1936.