Bear with her cubs 

This is Niko Pirosmani’s ‘Bear with her cubs,’ likely made in the early 20th century in Georgia, using oil on oilcloth, a material which speaks to the artist’s social milieu. Pirosmani was a self-taught artist, who lived a life of poverty, working as a sign painter for shops and taverns in Tbilisi. He developed his own unique style, characterized by simplified forms, a dark palette, and subjects drawn from his everyday life and Georgian folklore. This painting exemplifies Pirosmani’s style. The figures are rendered with a raw, almost childlike simplicity. The scene evokes a sense of the Georgian landscape. It also reflects the social conditions of the time. Georgia was undergoing a period of rapid modernization, and Pirosmani's paintings often captured the disappearing traditions and the struggles of the working class. His art critiqued the institutions of art by existing outside of it. Art historians like myself use archives and social histories to understand artists like Pirosmani, ensuring we appreciate art as contingent on social and institutional contexts.