Saint George’s Day in Bolnisi 1915

Niko Pirosmani painted Saint George’s Day in Bolnisi, likely on oilcloth, using a palette that feels earthy, elemental, and kind of distilled. It’s like he's reducing everything to its most essential form. Look at the oxen pulling the wagon. The way the light hits the striped barrel they are dragging. It’s all about the texture, the physicality of this everyday object, elevated somehow. The paint is applied directly, unpretentiously, giving the whole scene a raw, immediate feel. You can almost smell the earth and hear the sounds of the village. Pirosmani reminds me a bit of Henri Rousseau. Both were self-taught and had this incredible way of seeing the world with fresh eyes. It's this kind of vision that makes art so endlessly fascinating; it's never just about what we see, but how we see it.