Keti Kintsurashvili, who joins us this year on a Fulbright fellowship, has just had her book entitled

David Kakabadze: A Twentieth Century Classic appear with Arbat Press.

The book is about the life and work of the early twentieth century Georgian artist David Kakabadze (1889-1952). Multitalented, Kakabadze became interested in photography at an early age and painted in a wide variety of styles. The book traces Kakabadze's life and work, organizing the account into five different periods: early, 1889-1913; Saint Petersburg, 1913-1918; Tbilisi, 1918-1919; Paris, 1920-1927; and Tbilisi 1927-1952. In each period, Keti covers Kakbadze's work and what and who influenced it. If, like me, you had never heard of Kakabadze, the book will be a revelation: his early sketches are lovely, the painting entitled My Mother Imeretia from hisearly Tbilisi period is amazing (I'm sure I've seen reproductions, but now would love to see the original), and the sheer range of his work and his willingness to experiment is stunning. Keti's account of the Paris period is fascinating. Kakabadze worked with an incredible collection of Georgian artists who lived there in the early 1920's, among them Lado Gudiashvili (also a dancer) and Elene Akhvlediani, persons whose acquaintance I first met in this book. On returning to Tbilisi, Kakbadze fused abstract techniques with folk elements to create some unforgettable landscapes. The book itself is a joy. It is filled with photographs, many taken by Kakabadze himself, many in margins. It functions as a biography, as a critical outline of the artist's work, and as an account of the extraordinary creative scene in early twentieth century Georgia, of which Kakabadze was a crucial part.

Source: http://www.mtholyoke.edu/offices/dof/books03-04.shtml

Link: David Kakabadze

Great georgian painter David Kakabadze got interested in photography in an early age. In Kutaisi gymnasium where the young man was studing, an amateur photographer A. Labenski was tutoring whose photos were printed in different Russian magazines. In 1897 he was awarded with a diploma of good work on the First Caucasus photo-exhibition held in Tiflis.
It's no mere chance that his first photos coincide with the period of studies. He was shooting his relatives and villagers.
Since that David Kakabadze has never separated from his camera. He was taking wonderful photos. Later, in 1923 he invented stereoscopic movie system.
Among the photos of David Kakabadze there are many architectural monuments and ethnographical pictures from different regions of Georgia.

Wonderful article: http://www.z-kkal.iatp.ge/page1e.html