Restoration of “Hunting in India”

Restoration of “Hunting in India”

30 January, 2014

The Pirosmani’s “Hunting in India” is one of his largest and most extraordinary paintings. It depicts two tigers, a bear and a wild boar in a tropical wood. It has not been restored since the 1930s, when it was damaged and in poor condition. Because of its size, restoration is tough. However, now Nana Managadze and Evelina Karseli are restoring the painting. Georgian Journal talked with Managadze, who believes there are other Pirosmani paintings that need restoration. 
Q. Please tell us the history of this painting.A. In journals of the National Museum, there is information that famous Georgian writer David Kldiashvili owned this painting and sold it to the museum in the 1930s. It was in a very dreadful situation: it was brought to the museum folded in four parts. You must imagine that this is one of the biggest paintings by Pirosmani. 
Q. Is this the Pirosmani’s largest painting?A. No, there are other pictures that are also big and they need restoration.
Q. Were they exhibited or are they unknown by the public?A. They are not known, and they have not been exhibited yet. Maybe there were reproductions in some catalogs.
Q. How much money does the museum need for restoration of these paintings? A. It is hard to tell. Every painting needs an individual approach due to the damages they have and the work that should be carried out.
Q. Is “the Hunting in India” one solid piece of art?A. “The Hunting in India” is a one big, solid canvas. Only a little part of the painting was lost. 
Q. What are the conditions you are working in when restoring the painting? A. We – the restoration specialists - have only two rooms for the work. This space is not enough to accommodate “the Hunting in India” – not to mention other paintings that are under restoration. The window is too little, there is not enough light. Besides, there is no proper heating either.
Q. When is the restoration of the painting going to end?A. We began to work on “the Hunting in India” in 2013. National Museum of Georgia bought canvas in Germany just for this painting. Right now we have to restore all the fallen parts of the oil color layer, but this is very refined work, like jewelry. We have to cover all these cracks in the color but not touch Pirosmani’s layers. As you see this is a very refined job. Many of Pirosmani’s paintings need restoration, and there is hope there will be found finances for his masterpieces.

Author: Ketevan Charkhalashvili