Ivanishvili Brings Pirosmani Painting Back to Georgia

Georgian multi-billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili has purchased a rare painting by iconic Georgian artist Niko Pirosmani for almost $1.5 million USD and donated it to Georgia’s Museum of Fine Arts. After Ivanishvili purchased the painting, he announced: "The painting will be returned to Georgia”. Niko Pirosmani, born (1862-1918) was a self-taught artist who invented the primitivism painting style. Today, Pirosmani is one of Georgia’s most recognised painters. He mostly painted his works for taverns and small shops, often in exchange for a cheap lunch or a shot of vodka, rather than money. In 1913, five years before Pirosmani’s death, Georgian artist Ilia Zdanevich took a number of Pirosmani's paintings to Moscow for the Target exhibition. Arsenal Hill at Night, the painting bought by Ivanishvili, went through several anonymous owners. During the Soviet period, it was believed to be missing. Meanwhile prior to being owned by Zdanevich,  Arsenal Hill at Night belonged to someone named Bayadze, who operated a tavern in Tbilisi. In 1920, poet Kolau Cherniavsky found the painting in a local neighbourhood where Bayadze's bar was located.