Roe deer with a Landscape in the Background 1913

Curator: Niko Pirosmani's "Roe Deer with a Landscape in the Background," painted around 1913, presents a striking, almost dreamlike image. Editor: Yes, dreamlike is a great way to put it. The disproportionate scale of the deer, and the flattened perspective creates this strange sense of a naive rendering, like something from a child's storybook but unsettling at the same time. Curator: Absolutely, and looking closer, we can see the application of oil paint to create form. Notice the layering, building texture particularly in the foliage, contrasting with the almost diagrammatic, linear qualities used to render the roe deer. He used simple industrial oilcloth rather than prepared canvas for many paintings, highlighting available materials. Editor: Agreed, that materiality really stands out! I'm drawn to the simplified color palette. The browns of the deer, greens of the forest and stark whites are contrasted so directly. He uses light and shadow to define the animal, even though the construction and rendering seem somewhat flat overall. It is almost as if the symbolic value, takes precedence over representational accuracy. Curator: Precisely. Pirosmani was self-taught. He produced works often commissioned for taverns and shops, revealing the commercial backdrop to the folk-art quality you perceive, and those material limitations dictated technique. There’s a tension there between a self-aware, crafted folk-art and making art out of basic necessity. The social conditions of the labor matter so much. Editor: Yes, I understand how Pirosmani’s societal placement informs your reading, but I remain fixated on the art as a standalone thing, how the visual choices interact to provoke an emotional reaction in the viewer, regardless of the initial setting it occupied. The roe deer, after all, feels imbued with the solitude of the mountainous setting. It stares with this profound, quizzical stare, making the animal seem aware of something the painting itself holds. Curator: Well said, the direct, unsettling gaze and almost exaggerated stylization makes the folk-art quality feel even more engaging. It forces us to reckon with the world in a slightly off-kilter way. Editor: Yes, and Pirosmani is, if nothing else, successful in eliciting such deep-seated considerations within a visually straightforward structure. Thank you, Pirosmani.