Paper

Student Artwork Guide

Queen Tamara

Name Class Date

Niko Pirosmani, Queen Tamara. Public domain. See this canvas under a moving light: the drawing, the true colour under the varnish, the bare pigment

The facts

Artist
Niko Pirosmani originaluniqueart.com/en/artists/niko-pirosmani/
Artist’s dates
1862 – 1918
Movement
Primitivism Work by artists without formal training, flat and direct, valued for exactly that freshness.

In context

Queen Tamara — Niko Pirosmani

When might this have been painted?

  1. 1860
  2. 1870
  3. 1880
  4. 1890
  5. 1900
  6. 1910

Row above: the years. Row below: how old the artist was at the start and at the end of each span — 0 at birth, 56 at death.

Shaded: the lifetime of Niko Pirosmani (1862–1918) every dated painting, decade by decade

First works: up to 1906 Main working years: 1906–1915 Late works: from 1915

Those three bands split the works this catalogue has a date for into a first quarter, a middle half and a last quarter. They are not the artist’s complete output: a thin stretch may be a gap in the record rather than a quiet spell. The same years with the artist’s life laid along them

This record has no exact year on file — using the artist's lifetime and the work's style, what decade would you guess?

Compare with

  • Bear hunting originaluniqueart.com/en/art/niko-pirosmani-bear-hunting-D2GTQ8-en/
  • Bear cub originaluniqueart.com/en/art/niko-pirosmani-bear-cub-D2W2YU-en/
  • Peasant and his son, 1908 originaluniqueart.com/en/art/niko-pirosmani-peasant-and-his-son-D2GSTQ-en/

Pick one work above: name two things it shares with this one, and one thing that's different.

More works to set beside this one: originaluniqueart.com/en/art/similar/niko-pirosmani-queen-tamara-8XYMKN-en/

Colours

Measured from the image

    Main colour

    Black #040301

    Catalogued palette

    • #040301
    • #5D4921
    • #A7813D
    • #D4AF68

    These colours inside the artist’s whole palette Find other paintings by colour

    Palette
    Earthy The dominant colour family in the image.
    Main colour name
    Black
    Intensity
    Balanced How saturated and varied the colours are, from a single toned-down hue to many bright ones.
    Contrast
    Statement How much the colours differ in lightness and saturation across the picture.
    Harmony
    Strong Color Unity How well the colours work together, from clashing to fully unified.
    Brightness
    Deep_shadow How light or dark the picture reads overall, from deep shadow to bright highlight.
    Saturation
    Balanced Soft How pure and strong the colours are, from near-grey to fully vivid.

    Where in the world is this painting looked at?

    • under 1%
    • 1–3%
    • 3–8%
    • 8–20%
    • 20% and over
    This painting alone has too few recorded visitors to map, so the plate reads every work by Niko Pirosmani over the last twelve months — 10 countries in all. Where these figures come from

    The ten leading countries

    1. 1 China 43.5%3,000 visits
    2. 2 Germany 13.0%900 visits
    3. 3 United States of America 11.6%800 visits
    4. 4 Singapore 8.7%600 visits
    5. 5 Georgia 7.2%500 visits
    6. 6 Hong Kong 5.8%400 visits
    7. 7 Japan 4.3%300 visits
    8. 8 Russia 2.9%200 visits
    9. 9 Lithuania 1.4%100 visits
    10. 10 Poland 1.4%100 visits

    Find the three darkest countries on the map. Is the museum that keeps this painting in any of them? Write down one reason people far away might look at it.

    The 20 most looked-at works by Niko Pirosmani

    1. 1 Fisherman in a Red Shirt, 1908 11.8%1,000 visits
    2. 2 Giraffe, 1905 4.7%400 visits
    3. 3 Beauties of Ortachala (diptych), 1905 4.7%400 visits
    4. 4 Bear hunting 4.7%400 visits
    5. 5 Georgian woman with children 3.5%300 visits
    6. 6 Vintage 3.5%300 visits
    7. 7 Fruit stall 3.5%300 visits
    8. 8 Gate Keeper, 1905 2.4%200 visits
    9. 9 Childless millionaire and the poor with children 2.4%200 visits
    10. 10 Bear cub 2.4%200 visits
    11. 11 Deer, 1909 2.4%200 visits
    12. 12 Still life 2.4%200 visits
    13. 13 Religious holiday in Kartli (central Georgia) 2.4%200 visits
    14. 14 Rant 2.4%200 visits
    15. 15 Man with a horn for drinking wine (Portrait of Meliton Chkheidze), 1906 2.4%200 visits
    16. 16 Country Yard 2.4%200 visits
    17. 17 Portrait of Alexander Garanov, 1906 1.2%100 visits
    18. 18 Actress Margaret, 1909 1.2%100 visits
    19. 19 Roe with a Landscape in the Background, 1913 1.2%100 visits
    20. — Queen Tamara this painting 0.0%0 visits

    Together these works take 61.6% of all the attention this artist's paintings received over the last twelve months. The catalogue holds 239 works by this artist, of which 52 were looked at at least once. This painting has not been looked at yet in that time — it closes the list without a rank. The same counts, month by month

    Bars measure attention, not quality. Pick the work at the top and this one: name one thing that might make a painting famous beyond how well it is painted.

    Artist and museum

    Artist

    Niko Pirosmani

    Born in Mtskheta, Georgia

    early life and career

    niko pirosmani, a georgian primitivist painter, was born in 1862 in the village of mirzaani, kakheti province. his parents, aslan pirosmanashvili and tekle toklikishvili, were farmers who owned a small vineyard. orphaned at a young age, pirosmani was left in the care of his two elder sisters.

    artistic style and themes

    pirosmani's artistic style is characterized by its naive and primitivist nature, often depicting everyday scenes of georgian life. his paintings, mostly done on oilcloth, showcase his unique compositional consideration and frontal placements of figures. pirosmani was fond of nature and rural life, rarely employing city landscapes in his work.

    notable works and exhibitions

    some of pirosmani's notable works include:

    musha with a wineskin, a painting showcasing his ability to capture the essence of georgian culture.

    georgian wedding, a representation of traditional georgian wedding ceremonies.

    portrait of zhdanevich, a portrait of the russian poet mikhail le-dantyu, which won the enthusiasm of kirill zdanevich and his brother ilia zdanevich.

    these works have been exhibited in various museums, including: the museum of ryazan regional art (russia) and the lugansk regional art museum (ukraine), both featuring on the primitivism art movement page on AllPaintingsStore.

    legacy and posthumous recognition

    pirosmani's life was marked by poverty, but his posthumous recognition has been significant. his work has been celebrated in various exhibitions, including the first big exhibition of georgian painters in 1918. today, his paintings are shown in the art museum of georgia and the historical-ethnographic museum of sighnaghi, with over 350,000 viewers. view niko pirosmani's artworks on AllPaintingsStore read more about niko pirosmani on wikipedia

    Where to read more

    Find this online

    QR code linking to the download page for Queen Tamara

    originaluniqueart.com/en/art/download/niko-pirosmani-queen-tamara-8XYMKN-en/

    Cite this artwork

    MLA
    Pirosmani, Niko. Queen Tamara. n.d., https://originaluniqueart.com/en/art/niko-pirosmani-queen-tamara-8XYMKN-en/
    APA
    Pirosmani, Niko (n.d.). Queen Tamara [Painting]. https://originaluniqueart.com/en/art/niko-pirosmani-queen-tamara-8XYMKN-en/
    Chicago
    Niko Pirosmani. Queen Tamara. n.d. https://originaluniqueart.com/en/art/niko-pirosmani-queen-tamara-8XYMKN-en/
    Harvard
    Pirosmani, Niko (n.d.) Queen Tamara. Available at: https://originaluniqueart.com/en/art/niko-pirosmani-queen-tamara-8XYMKN-en/

    Look closely

    Queen Tamara — Niko Pirosmani

    Look closely

    Answer in your own words. There are no wrong answers here — only answers you can explain.

    1. What catches your eye first, and why?
    2. Which colours or shapes create the mood — and what is that mood?
    3. How many faces can you find? ____ (our catalogue counts 1 — do you agree?)
    4. Our catalogue files this work under: georgian culture, religious symbolism, royal portraiture. Do you agree? What would you add, or take away?
    5. Look back at Bear hunting, earlier in this guide. Name two things it shares with this work, and one that is different.

    Your response

    Write a short paragraph about this artwork. Use the facts from the earlier parts of this guide, and your answers above.

    Questions & Answers

    How intense are the colors in "Queen Tamara" by Niko Pirosmani?

    "Queen Tamara" by Niko Pirosmani shows a balanced color intensity.

    What colors dominate "Queen Tamara" by Niko Pirosmani?

    The color identity of "Queen Tamara" by Niko Pirosmani: an earthy palette, dominated by black (#040301).

    What explains the copyright situation of "Queen Tamara" by Niko Pirosmani?

    "Queen Tamara" by Niko Pirosmani is in the public domain - its copyright has expired. Copyright terms are measured from the artist's death, and Niko Pirosmani died in 1918.