Student Artwork Guide — Gate Keeper

Name Class Date

Niko Pirosmani, Gate Keeper (1905). Public domain. See this canvas under a moving light: the drawing, the true colour under the varnish, the bare pigment

The facts

Artist: Niko Pirosmani topimpressionists.com/en/artists/niko-pirosmani/
Artist’s dates: 1862 – 1918
Painted: 1905
Original size: 101 x 47 cm
Movement: Naive Art / Primitivism Work by artists without formal training, flat and direct, valued for exactly that freshness.

Copyright This work is in the public domain. Niko Pirosmani died in 1918; copyright lasts 70 years after the artist’s death, so it ended in 1988.

Gate Keeper — Niko Pirosmani

How big is it?

The original measures 101 × 47 cm (height × width), drawn here beside an adult of average height.

When was this painted?

1860
1870
1880
1890
1900
1910

Row above: the years. Row below: how old the artist was at the start and at the end of each span — 0 at birth, 56 at death.

Painted when the artist was 43. The artist lived to 56. 3 of the 61 dated works by this artist in our catalogue came earlier.

Shaded: the lifetime of Niko Pirosmani (1862–1918) ▲ this work, 1905 every dated painting, decade by decade

First works: up to 1906 Main working years: 1906–1915 Late works: from 1915

Those three bands split the works this catalogue has a date for into a first quarter, a middle half and a last quarter. They are not the artist’s complete output: a thin stretch may be a gap in the record rather than a quiet spell. The same years with the artist’s life laid along them

Compare with

Bear hunting topimpressionists.com/en/art/niko-pirosmani-bear-hunting-D2GTQ8-en/
Bear cub topimpressionists.com/en/art/niko-pirosmani-bear-cub-D2W2YU-en/
Peasant and his son, 1908 topimpressionists.com/en/art/niko-pirosmani-peasant-and-his-son-D2GSTQ-en/

Pick one work above: name two things it shares with this one, and one thing that's different.

More works to set beside this one: topimpressionists.com/en/art/similar/niko-pirosmani-gate-keeper-8XYMFY-en/

Colours

Measured from the image

Main colour

Quinacridone Magenta #766146

Catalogued palette

#766146
#E9E1CA
#362312
#B8A98E

These colours inside the artist’s whole palette Find other paintings by colour

Palette: Neutrals The dominant colour family in the image.
Main colour name: Quinacridone Magenta
Intensity: Balanced How saturated and varied the colours are, from a single toned-down hue to many bright ones.
Contrast: Statement How much the colours differ in lightness and saturation across the picture.
Harmony: Strong Color Unity How well the colours work together, from clashing to fully unified.
Brightness: Brilliant How light or dark the picture reads overall, from deep shadow to bright highlight.
Saturation: Subtle Color How pure and strong the colours are, from near-grey to fully vivid.

Where in the world is this painting looked at?

under 1%
1–3%
3–8%
8–20%
20% and over

This painting alone has too few recorded visitors to map, so the plate reads every work by Niko Pirosmani over the last twelve months — 10 countries in all. Where these figures come from

The ten leading countries

1 China 43.5%
2 Germany 13.0%
3 United States of America 11.6%
4 Singapore 8.7%
5 Georgia 7.2%
6 Hong Kong 5.8%
7 Japan 4.3%
8 Russia 2.9%
9 Lithuania 1.4%
10 Poland 1.4%

Find the three darkest countries on the map. Is the museum that keeps this painting in any of them? Write down one reason people far away might look at it.

The 20 most looked-at works by Niko Pirosmani

1 Fisherman in a Red Shirt, 1908 11.9%
2 Giraffe, 1905 4.8%
3 Beauties of Ortachala (diptych), 1905 4.8%
4 Georgian woman with children 3.6%
5 Vintage 3.6%
6 Fruit stall 3.6%
7 Bear hunting 3.6%
8 Gate Keeper, 1905 this painting 2.4%
9 Childless millionaire and the poor with children 2.4%
10 Bear cub 2.4%
11 Deer, 1909 2.4%
12 Still life 2.4%
13 Religious holiday in Kartli (central Georgia) 2.4%
14 Rant 2.4%
15 Man with a horn for drinking wine (Portrait of Meliton Chkheidze), 1906 2.4%
16 Country Yard 2.4%
17 Portrait of Alexander Garanov, 1906 1.2%
18 Actress Margaret, 1909 1.2%
19 Roe with a Landscape in the Background, 1913 1.2%
20 Sitting yellow lion 1.2%

Together these works take 62.3% of all the attention this artist's paintings received over the last twelve months. The catalogue holds 239 works by this artist, of which 52 were looked at at least once. This painting ranks 8 of them, with 2.4% of that attention. The same counts, month by month

Bars measure attention, not quality. Pick the work at the top and this one: name one thing that might make a painting famous beyond how well it is painted.

Artist

Niko Pirosmani

Born in Mtskheta, Georgia

early life and career

niko pirosmani, a georgian primitivist painter, was born in 1862 in the village of mirzaani, kakheti province. his parents, aslan pirosmanashvili and tekle toklikishvili, were farmers who owned a small vineyard. orphaned at a young age, pirosmani was left in the care of his two elder sisters.

artistic style and themes

pirosmani's artistic style is characterized by its naive and primitivist nature, often depicting everyday scenes of georgian life. his paintings, mostly done on oilcloth, showcase his unique compositional consideration and frontal placements of figures. pirosmani was fond of nature and rural life, rarely employing city landscapes in his work.

notable works and exhibitions

some of pirosmani's notable works include:

musha with a wineskin, a painting showcasing his ability to capture the essence of georgian culture.

georgian wedding, a representation of traditional georgian wedding ceremonies.

portrait of zhdanevich, a portrait of the russian poet mikhail le-dantyu, which won the enthusiasm of kirill zdanevich and his brother ilia zdanevich.

these works have been exhibited in various museums, including: the museum of ryazan regional art (russia) and the lugansk regional art museum (ukraine), both featuring on the primitivism art movement page on AllPaintingsStore.

legacy and posthumous recognition

pirosmani's life was marked by poverty, but his posthumous recognition has been significant. his work has been celebrated in various exhibitions, including the first big exhibition of georgian painters in 1918. today, his paintings are shown in the art museum of georgia and the historical-ethnographic museum of sighnaghi, with over 350,000 viewers. view niko pirosmani's artworks on AllPaintingsStore read more about niko pirosmani on wikipedia

Where to read more

The artist Niko Pirosmani topimpressionists.com/en/artists/niko-pirosmani/
Similar works More works to compare topimpressionists.com/en/art/similar/niko-pirosmani-gate-keeper-8XYMFY-en/

Find this online

QR code linking to the download page for Gate Keeper

topimpressionists.com/en/art/download/niko-pirosmani-gate-keeper-8XYMFY-en/

Cite this artwork

MLA: Pirosmani, Niko. Gate Keeper. 1905, https://topimpressionists.com/en/art/niko-pirosmani-gate-keeper-8XYMFY-en/
APA: Pirosmani, Niko (1905). Gate Keeper [Painting]. https://topimpressionists.com/en/art/niko-pirosmani-gate-keeper-8XYMFY-en/
Chicago: Niko Pirosmani. Gate Keeper. 1905. https://topimpressionists.com/en/art/niko-pirosmani-gate-keeper-8XYMFY-en/
Harvard: Pirosmani, Niko (1905) Gate Keeper. Available at: https://topimpressionists.com/en/art/niko-pirosmani-gate-keeper-8XYMFY-en/

Gate Keeper — Niko Pirosmani

Look closely

Answer in your own words. There are no wrong answers here — only answers you can explain.

What catches your eye first, and why?
Which colours or shapes create the mood — and what is that mood?
Look back at Bear hunting, earlier in this guide. Name two things it shares with this work, and one that is different.
Naive Art / Primitivism: Work by artists without formal training, flat and direct, valued for exactly that freshness. Where can you see that in this work?
Niko Pirosmani was about 43 when this was made. What in it looks like the work of an artist at that stage?

Your response

Write a short paragraph about this artwork. Use the facts from the earlier parts of this guide, and your answers above.

Questions & Answers

Which artist and which style stand behind "Gate Keeper"?

Niko Pirosmani created "Gate Keeper" within the Naive Art / Primitivism movement.

Are there works similar to "Gate Keeper"?

Artworks similar to "Gate Keeper" by Niko Pirosmani are gathered on the artwork's Similars page.

What color palette is used in "Gate Keeper" by Niko Pirosmani?

The colors of "Gate Keeper" form a neutrals palette. This classification describes the dominant color families.