The Ministry of Culture and Sports of Georgia, in recognition of Valerian Sidamon-Eristavi’s profound influence on Georgian culture, pays tribute to his memory and his invaluable contributions.
Valerian Sidamon-Eristavi, one of the most important figures of Georgian modernist painting, famous painter, painter, graphic artist, and cartoonist, honored achiever of Georgian art, 135 years have passed since his birth.
The Ministry of Culture and Sports of Georgia purchased Valerian Sidamon-Eristavi’s collection in 2021 as part of the project “Preserving the Unity of Private Collections Important for Georgian Culture/Replenishing Museum Funds.”
The collection was distributed to the Georgian Palace of Art and Art Museums, named after Shalva Amiranashvili. The Georgian Art Palace collection contains 110 works of Sidamon-Eristavi, and the corresponding fund of the Georgian Museum of Art contains 406 works.
Valerian Sidamon-Eristavi was born on June 20, 1889 in Kvareli. He received a professional education in Moscow’s school of painting, sculptures, and choralists (1909-1915). After returning to Georgia, he settled in Kakheti and taught drawing in Telavi.
The work of Valerian Sidamon-Eristavi (1889-1943) is impressive and diverse. The artist, distinguished by his sound palette and compositional skills, has significantly contributed to the development of various fields of fine art: painting, Georgian cinema, and scenery. She created themed pictures and, portraits and book illustrations.
In the 10s of the XX century, like other Georgian painters, Valerian Sidamon-Eristavi’s main task was to find a national form. For this reason, at the beginning of the 1910s, he gave some advantage to the historical theme and, with his work, laid the foundation of the historical genre in Georgian painting. In 1910-1920, he created several important works of the historical genre: “King Tamar,” “Battle of Krtsanisi,” and “Battle Erekle II with Leks.”
From 1920 to 1923, Sidamon-Eristavi was the only professional painter of Georgian theater. He worked with directors like Kote Marjanishvili, Sandro Akhmeteli, Mikheil Koreli, Akaki Phaghava, and Alexander Tsutsunava. More than 70 theater or opera performances and more than 40 films have been staged, including plays – “Berdo Zmania,” “Galati,” “Avgarozi”; films – “Pepo,” “Surami Castle,” “Khanuma,” “My Grandmother,” “Krazana”; opera productions – “Saying about Shota Rustaveli,” “Loengrin,” “Boshata Baron,” “Daisi.”
In 1925-1943, Valerian Sidamon-Eristavi was studying at the Tbilisi State Academy of Art, and from 1938, he was a professor of the Academy of Art.
He died on June 9, 1943. The artist’s works are preserved in various museums of Georgia, in particular – National Museum of Georgia, Art Museum, Tbilisi History Museum (Karvasla), Kote Marjanishvili State Dramatic Theater Museum, Cultural History Museum, Tbilisi Shota Rustaveli State Dramatical Theater Museum, as well as in several private collections.
