Running deer 1909

Niko Pirosmani made this painting of a 'Running Deer' sometime around the turn of the century with oil on oilcloth. Just look at how he’s captured that deer, stepping through the blackest night onto a grassy patch. The deer is rendered with such directness, such love. I can see him, Pirosmani, wrestling with the slippery paint, trying to pin down the animal's essence. Those earthy colors, like he’s mixed them straight from the Georgian soil itself. I imagine him wanting to make something honest and real, with a kind of naive touch. It reminds me of Rousseau, or maybe even some folk art traditions – that raw, untamed energy. I think he’s got that realness, that sincerity, that only comes when you're not trying too hard to be 'artistic.' I imagine other painters looking at this deer and feeling a kinship, a recognition of the shared struggle to capture the world with pigment and feeling. Painting is like a conversation between artists through time, and Pirosmani's deer is part of that ongoing exchange.