For all 55 years of his life, the Georgian painter Niko Pirosmiani, who died in 1918, was poor. He learned to write Russian and Georgian while working as a servant to wealthy families. He moved from job to job—herdsman, railroad conductor, dairy farmer, house painter, whitewasher, cobbler. Somewhere along the way he taught himself to paint. Pirosmiani’s pictures were direct, rustic, quotidian; his use of color, striking. It wasn’t until two years after his death that articles were written about the “naive” painter. Today, he is Georgia’s most beloved artist. Featuring 50 major paintings, this is the most comprehensive international exhibition of his work to date. —Elena Clavarino