Elene Akhvlediani

 

Elene Akhvlediani (1898-1975) was Georgian painter,graphic artist and theater decorator.Her parents were people out of the common.Elene,Just as the other artists of her generation-David Kakabadze,Lado Gudiashvili and Keto Magalashvili-started her works in the early decades of the twentieth century.These masters achievements,based on the legacy of national and European culturs,have largely determined the distinctive features of Georgian Soviet art and have not lost their importance to this day.In 1922 Akhvlediani entered the painting department of the Tiflis Academy of Arts.The class was conducted by Gigo Gabashvili,the acknowledged master of genre and portrait painting.She spent about two years in Italy and studied the Italian language and was drawing a great deal.After 2 years spent in Italy,Elene went to Paris.In 1924 Elene Akhvlediani continued her studies in Paris, at the famous Académie Colarossi, founded by Italian sculptor Filippo Colarossi and took part in various exhibitions.1925 - 1927 exhibitions organized by the “Salon of the Independents” and the “Autumn Salon”. 1926 First solo exhibition at the “Quatre Chemins” gallery.After returning to Georgia she held various exhibitions in Tbilisi, Telavi and Kutaisi.She worked with Kote Marjanishvili for Kutaisi Theatre as well as for the theatres of Tbilisi, Moscow, Kiev and Leningrad, in total making the stage designs for 70 performances.From 1950s she began to work in cinema design. She designed costumes for the films “Chrichina” (Cricket), “Eter’s Song”, “Ceased Song” and for Sergo Parajanov’s film “Color of Pomegranate” (unrealized project).At the end of 1950s she travelled to the Baltic States and the Czech Republic and created series of landscapes of Tallinn and Bratislavan.In 1960s she restored the tradition that had been practiced by Boris Vogel and together with a group of artists started travelling in different regions of Georgia, organizing various exhibitions to encompass a wide range of their work along the road.