the United States.

This epoch, that he

termed "an era of machinism and ci-
nematography" inspired him to crea-
te new techniques. He used glass and
metal pieces that had accumulated in
his studio while working on the projec-
tor, to create collages. On the back of
some of these, he attached light bulbs
and used pieces of mirrors, glass, len-
ses and flashing elements to give dep-
th to his compositions, creating a new
sense of dynamism.
In 1921-1927, Kakabadze created a
series of biomorphic abstractions. In his
work during this period the contour of
an embryo or vegetation is often discer-
ned. His sculpture Z (part of the Yale
University Art Gallery collection, USA) is
an example of this organic abstraction.
Apart from student exercises, Kakaba-
dze never painted female models, yet
the female subject is present in the
artist's work in non-traditional forms.
His model was "terra", the Earth, he rare-
ly painted sky or water in his Imeretian
landscapes. Kakabadze generalized the
idea of motherland through images of
TWENTIETH CENTURY CLASSIC
ART > Ketevan Kintsurashvili
On 18 May, 2013, International Museum Day, a retrospective exhibition of David Kakabadze (1889-1952) opened at the
Georgian National Museums Dimitri Shevardnadze National Gallery.
the mother ("Imereti my Mother") and
his organic abstractions may be consi-
dered a subconscious representation of
the female subject.
In the abstract paintings he created
before he left Paris, the artist depic-
ted what appears to be a cell under a
microscope, or images of space seen
through a telescope. These works con-
vey the notion that the natural micro-
and macro-worlds obey the same rules
of organizational order. This order is
a corner stone of Kakabadze's entire
work nature and the origin of life are
constant sources of inspiration.
In 1927, David Kakabadze returned to
his homeland. He had left an indepen-
dent Georgia where Modernist art and li-
terature were on the rise, and came back
to a Soviet country where avant-garde
proclivities were punished. He worked
as a stage and film artist, taught at the
Academy of Arts, published theoretical
essays and made a film about Georgian
architectural monuments. He later retur-
ned to landscape painting, however he
was criticized for disregarding the prin-
ciples of Socialist Realism. He was finally
dismissed from the Academy of Arts in
1948. The artist died of a heart attack in
1952.
In todays era of 3-D it is striking to note
how progressive David Kakabadze's ide-
as were for his time. He worked at crea-
ting new methods to solve the problems
of depicting space at two-dimensional
surface. This exceptional representa-
tive of Modernism left inventions that
were so innovative that they have con-
tinued to exist as a process even in the
Post-modernist era. In 2011, his project
for a holographic portrait of Stalin was
implemented realized posthumously in
Sweden, with support from the Munici-
pality of Lund. In spite of the avant-gar-
de, experimental nature of his creation,
however, all of Kakabadzes work was
based on classical, fundamental canons.
At the beginning of the 20
th
century,
as David Kakabadze stood on a hill in his
native Imereti, his eyes saw a new era to
come, yet he perceived the world as a
true classic, creating avant-garde art ba-
sed on eternal values.
Self-portrait
D
avid Kakabadze depicted the
world as if he were flying over
the hills of his native Imereti. As
an artist of the era of Cubism and Abs-
tract art he had a sharpened sense of
time and space and translated his ho-
listic perception of visible reality into
corresponding imagery. Divided into
colorful segments, the surface of the
land in his paintings covers the slopes
like a carpet.
After graduating fromthe Kutaisi Gym-
nasiumin 1915, David Kakabadze studied
simultaneously at the Faculty of Sciences
at Petersburg University and at the priva-
te art studio of Dmitriyev-Kavkazskiy. He
returned to Georgia in 1918, when Geor-
gia had become an independent repu-
blic. His work was shown at the Temple of
Glory, todays National Gallery, as part of
an exhibition of Georgian artists. The Ge-
orgian Government then sent Kakabadze
and several other young artists to Paris,
where he stayed from1919 to 1927.
When he learned he was going to
Paris, Kakabadze set himself a goal: to
study new trends in art and have his
own say in them. He fulfilled his aim
not only by learning what the newest
trends were, but by being one of the
first to create organic or biomorphic
abstraction. He is also one of the first
artists to integrate elements of Art
Deco in his work. Living in the art cen-
ter of the world, Kakabadze could ex-
press his vision in a multitude of forms.
He started with Cubism, then moved
on to abstract art, organically integra-
ting elements of Dadaism and surrea-
list abstraction.
He was fascinated by the technolo-
gical novelties and while still studying
at the Gymnasium, he saved to buy a
camera, which he constantly carried
with him. Cinema also captivated him.
While in Paris, in 1922-1923, he inven-
ted a stereo movie projector that could
create a three-dimensional effect wi-
thout using special glasses. He had his
invention patented in many countries
of Western Europe, Great Britain and
Imereti - My Mother Constructive-decorative Composition Imereti Landskape
GEORGIAN NATIONAL MUSEUM 65
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