The history of Georgian painting counts many centuries. From the Middle Ages, works created mainly by artists working at the courts of kings have survived. Portraits depicting kings with their families and noble figures. Also noteworthy is the fresco painting, which has been preserved in many churches throughout the country.

In the 19th century, quite a few foreign artists visited Georgia. It is interesting to note that some Russian and European artists were sent to the Caucasus on special assignments by the state. They were supposed to capture important historical events, military operations, and new territories of the Russian Empire. Sketches made on the spot were later often transformed into large paintings.

Initially, the influence of Western art reached Georgia through Russia. But by the beginning of the 20th century, the Georgian cultural environment was ready to receive and share the innovations of modern European art with direct connection. Avant-garde art issues were discussed in literature circles, salons and artistic cafes, among which “Fantastic Doukan”, “Chimerion”, “Argonauts’ Ship”, “Peacock’s Tail” and “Hope” were particularly popular.

The Zdanevich brothers played an important role both in the avant-garde life of Tbilisi and in the subsequent development of Georgian art. The exhibition of Kirill Zdanevich, which opened in Tbilisi in November 1917 and was the first presentation of leftist art in Georgia, received quite a response.

The figure of Niko Pirosmanashvili also known as Pirosmani, stands out in Georgian and not only Georgian art of this period. Interest in his personality and work continues to this day. Many researchers and artists have tried to explain his unusual painting style. Almost everyone notes his organic connection with medieval painting, a specific, peculiar spirituality that can be felt in all his images, from people to still lifes.

The prominent Georgian artists of that period were Gigo Gabashvili, Lado Gudiashvili, Shalva Kikodze, David Kakabadze, Dimitri Shevardnadze, Valerian Sidamon-Eristavi, Mose Toidze, Elene Akhvlediani, Petre Otskheli, Irakli Gamrekeli and others. Names that have made the greatest contribution in the development of Georgian art.

Since the 1930’s, different generations of artists had to work on the theme of socialist realism – both fully formed artists with their own individual style and artistic manner, as well as young artists, the first-generation Academy of Arts graduates. Some of them, besides being commissioned by the government, managed to create works with specific themes and artistic principles, imprinted with the artist’s individual handwriting.

A similar trend continued after World War II, when Soviet society was busy with reconstruction and therefore it all needed to be reflected on canvases. Artists captured the theme of peace and labor in monumental-decorative works. They were painting roads, building dams, factories, agricultural harvests, etc.

During the 60’s when the regime softened its strictness, Georgian artists often turned to traditional genres such as landscape, portrait, and still life. They focused on the expressive, formal side of the work, as this made it more possible to reveal their taste, vision, and professionalism.

Thematic works free from ideology have been created since the second half of the 1970s. The new generation of artists, who organized unofficial exhibitions in the late 1970s, are distinguished by their innovative approach not only in terms of expression and style, but also in thematizing previously forbidden issues.

In the late 1980s, during the collapse of the Soviet Union, Georgian artists were given the opportunity to directly communicate with Western art and engage in cultural exchange. As Georgian artists appeared at international exhibitions, the term “Georgian avant-garde” emerged, indicating that the younger generation of Georgian artists were distinguished by original vision. But the postmodernist ideology of the Western world was created in a completely different political and socio-cultural environment from that of the Soviet Union. In the last quarter of the 20th century, the task of Georgian artists, like those working in the first quarter of the century, was again to quickly master the modern Western artistic language and visual art, to communicate with Western cultural processes, and at the same time to present their own problematics and individuality to establish a place on the map of contemporary world art.