The National Gallery

Pirosmani, Gudiashvili, Akhvlediani

The Dimitri Shevardnadze National Gallery occupies an 1888 building on Rustaveli by the architect Alexander Salzmann; in the city it is called the Blue Gallery. The house is a listed monument of national significance, and the top-lit hall alone is worth the visit.

Inside is Georgian painting of the first half of the twentieth century. Niko Pirosmani hangs here by the wall-load: the Giraffe, the Actress Margarita, tavern signboards on black oilcloth, painted for food and a bed.

Beside him are Lado Gudiashvili with his elongated figures, David Kakabadze and Elene Akhvlediani. The gallery is named after the painter Dimitri Shevardnadze, who gathered this art, founded the first national picture gallery and was shot in 1937.