Georgian Museum of Fine Arts

ქართული სახვითი ხელოვნების მუზეუმი
Georgian Museum of Fine Arts facade
Established	September 26, 2018
Location	7 Rustaveli Ave, Tbilisi, Georgia
Coordinates	41°41′50″N 44°47′58″E / 41.69722°N 44.79944°E / 41.69722; 44.79944
Type	Art museum
Founder	Dr. George (Gia) Jokhtaberidze & Manana Shevardnadze
Owner	Magti LLC (not to be confused with Magticom
Website	finearts.ge

Georgian Museum of Fine Arts (Georgian: ქართული სახვითი ხელოვნების მუზეუმი) is a private art museum located on the Rustaveli Avenue in Tbilisi, Georgia (country).^[1] The construction broke ground in 2013 and is the only building in Georgia built purposely to house art exhibitions. The museum official opening was held on September 26, 2018, while it opened to the public on October 2, 2018. The museum houses over 3500 artworks, created by over 80 artists during the last 70 years. ^[2] The museum exhibits private art collection of the family of Dr. George (Gia) Jokhtaberidze and Manana Shevardadze, founders of Magticom, the largest telecommunications company in Georgia.

History

Dr. George (Gia) Jokhtaberidze and Manana Shevardnadze started collecting art in the 1990s. After successful entrepreneurial endeavors, Jokhtaberidze started buying art for personal interests. During one of the shopping visits, the gallery was about to ship art to a foreign country for very low prices. Jokhtaberidze eventually realized that if art was scattered around the world without proper collection, documentation and exhibition, it would be lost forever. Since most of the art was created during the Soviet Union and the Iron Curtain, the art was not yet well-known. Jokhtaberidze aimed to collect, restore and preserve Georgian art. In the beginning, the mission did not include the idea to build a completely new museum building, the idea was to collect and donate all the art to state museums. However, due to the collapse of the USSR and subsequent economic and civil turmoil, the state museums were left in dire situation and were unable to accept all the art.^[3]

After collecting art for over 23 years and leading the largest telecommunication company in Georgia, Jokhtaberidze saw an opportunity to buy real estate right in front of the building of Parliament of Georgia. He then commissioned the construction of a complex of buildings that would become the Georgian Museum of Fine Arts and the Art House.

Collections

Artists