Georgia’s National Gallery was founded in 1920 and merged with the Georgian National Museum in 2007. Today, the Gallery is one of the central exhibition spaces of the National Museum. It offers eight exhibit halls, a souvenir shop, a laboratory, a warehouse for storing temporary exhibits, and a study hall. The project was developed by the Portuguese architectural company Ainda Arquitectura, and the result is a beautiful piece of architecture, inside and out, fitting to house the incredible artwork inside. The building, on Tbilisi’s main thoroughfare, was originally built as a Russian Imperial military and historic museum, known as the Temple of Glory, intended to showcase the power of the Russian Empire in its colonies.

One of the Gallery’s most popular exhibits is Georgian Fine Art Masterpieces of the Early 20th Century, where visitors can see 30 paintings by Niko Pirosmanashvili, demonstrating the diversity of the artist’s creative genre and theme, David Kakabadze’s works showcasing his art from the beginning of his career to the 1940s, and Lado Gudiashvili’s art from the early period of his creative life and continuing through the years he spent in Paris. The central hall displays six sculptures by famous Georgian sculptor Iakob Nikoladze, including “Wind,” “Woman from the North,” and “Chakhrukhadze,” as well as photo materials from his house-museum and information about his projects around the city.