And the fairy tale begins…

The exhibition can be viewed at the Kyiv National Mu­seum of Russian Art. The ex­hi­bi­tion features 30 art works of the latest period of the artist’s creative career, which are now owned by private collectors.

Paintings by Rusudan Pet­­via­sh­vili were presented as gifts to the President of the United States George W. Bush and Bri­tish Prime Minister Margaret That­cher. Georgian President Mi­khail Saakashvili calls Pet­via­shvili his favorite artist.

Master’s paintings are sincere and her stories are allegorical. Petviashvili admits that she never makes preliminary sketches. She uses the unique method of one-touch drawing. Perhaps, that’s the reason why in a moment of inspiration the artist works for 12 hours straight. “When I draw, I completely immerse myself into an imaginary world,” admitted Petviashvili. “I view it from the side only after I fi­nished it.”

By the way, the first exhibition of Petviashvili’s paintings was held when she was only six. At the age of 12 her artworks were exhibited in Paris. The le­gendary Pablo Picasso called her work genius. The phenomenon of the artistic style of Petviashvili has been studied by art historians, films and news reports have been made about the life of the great artist, and the International Bio­graphical Center of Cambridge included the name of the artist in the book 2,000 Outstanding People of the 20th Century.

Increased attention is, on the one hand, a just reward for the hard-working artist. On the other hand, it is a burden. The little prodigy girl, overwhelmed with the effects of early popularity, was protected from it by her mother. Now, the greatest support for the artist is her husband Timur Badriashvili, head of the Tbilisi State Puppet Theater, who accompanies the artist during all her trips. By the way, this is the theater where Petviashvili’s mother used to work. That was the place where Rusudan met her future husband – Timur staged his graduate pro­ject there.

Rusudan Petviashvili is an artist from God. While studying at university, she diligently worked on the order from Paris – illustrations for The Knight in the Panther’s Skin. When the Patriarch of Georgia Ilia II asked her to illustrate the Bible (the Gospel of Matthew), she worked on it for three years. She made paintings of calf leather…

Presently many new galleries open in Georgia, owned by wives of rich people and art critics. The family also opened a gallery in Batumi, but it is hard to maintain it. The state provides support for the sphere of art – there are certain projects, but Petviashvili does not participate in them.

The famous artist has received numerous offers to leave Georgia. But it is important for her to stay in her home country. It was difficult to reject such offer during the time of the Civil War. “When famous Georgians were leaving the country, I felt unbearably lonely,” said Rusudan PETVIASHVILI. “But I knew, if I left, it would be a hard blow for my friends who could not leave. At that time we had no gas, electricity, and water. Drawing saved me from difficulties.”

Now, the paintings of that period have been sold to private collections in America. In the most difficult period of the civil war the artist opened an exhibition in the House of Artists in Tbilisi. People came and sincerely thanked Rusudan for her talent and fortitude.

Mythological form, allegorical story-telling are the characteristic features of Petviashvili’s artistic style. Black-and-white drawings or the ones in color are as if telling a parable of some sort. Artist got inspired to pay more attention to co­lor by the creative work of the Impressionists, especially Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, who “made the most using minimal resources.” Rusudan admits that when she gets an idea, which should be quickly realized, she draws it in two colors, and if she has more time for drawing, she uses multiple colors.

Petviashvili’s exhibitions are always a great success in Paris, Vienna, Budapest, Madrid, London, Moscow, and Tbilisi, as well as in the United States. Most of the time the artist works in Tbi­li­si, but se­veral months a year she spends in her studio in Paris.