This Soviet film is a biography of the Georgian primitive artist Nikoloz Pirosmanishvili (1862–1918), better known as Pirosmani, who died of starvation and sold his paintings to bars and restaurants for food and drink. The film experiments with color control techniques based on the painter’s style.
From Pirosmani’s compatriot Giorgi Shengelaya comes this sensitive and sympathetic portrait of the Primitivist painter, who devoted his life’s work to illustrating often under-represented everyday lives. An astute film of meaningfully-muted colors and exquisite cinematography.