Man with a horn for drinking wine (Portrait of Meliton Chkheidze) 1906

Niko Pirosmani made this painting of Meliton Chkheidze with what looks like oil on oilcloth, although I'm not entirely sure. Imagine him in his studio in Tbilisi. He probably didn’t have one. More likely, he was working in a shop, or outdoors, maybe even a tavern. The man stares intensely. He’s holding a wine-horn and is dressed in traditional Georgian attire. A Karaokhi, someone who is part of the city’s culture. Maybe Pirosmani was one too. The paint is flat, but it’s also carefully modulated; it feels like Pirosmani laboured to get each tone just right. I wonder what they talked about, these two men. Did they drink together? There’s something so heartfelt in this painting. Like he’s thinking, I want to make him live forever! Pirosmani was an outsider. The so-called 'real artists' thought he was naive. But actually, that's what makes his work so appealing! He wasn't part of the art world; he *was* the world. Like, who needs the academy when you've got life, right?