The Ministry of Culture announced the exhibition of approximately 60 artworks at the Dimitri Shevardnadze National Gallery in Tbilisi, with the pieces comprising a group of works returned to the Shalva Amiranashvili Museum of Fine Arts and the National Gallery between 2021 and 2023 through its efforts.

The artworks, on public display until September 15, had been taken from vaults to be used at Georgian diplomatic missions, foreign offices and various organisations between 1993 and 2010. Some pieces were also temporarily taken by their authors in the 1980s and 1990s for “various reasons”.

The collection features works by artists including Sergo Kobuladze, Elene Akhvlediani, Edmond Kalandadze, Dimitri Khakhutashvili and Guram Kutateladze. Among the items is also a still life by an unknown Russian academic artist from the late 18th century, initially acquired by the Museum in the 1930s and attributed to Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin. The painting had been stolen during a 1994 robbery and was only returned in 2023, the body said.