Biography

Princess Maya (Maka) Dadiani belongs to the royal dynasty of Mingrelia in Georgia. Her great grandfather, Alexandre (Kviti) and great grandmother Nino (Ninutsa) were both Dadiani. She is a direct descendent in the eighth generation of the King Otia, who was ruling Mingrelia in the years 1728-1757. She is also a direct descendent in the sixth generation of the King Manuchar (1792) and Niko The Great (1834, statesman, military-commander-in-chief, governor of Mingrelia, ambassador and historian).

Maka’s parents, recognizing her talent as a musician, decided to give Maka musical education as pianist. Yet she had to practice visual arts in addition to music, as she was strongly attracted to drawing and painting since her early youth, whereas she was creating excellent copies of works of great masters such as Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raffael, Rubens, etc. After attending music school, she studied at the Music Academy of Tbilisi and graduated as concert master.

Her passion for painting pushes her at the age of 23 to give up on her career as a musician and to study Fine Arts at the State Institute of A. Pushkin in Tbilisi, a renowned art school of Georgia. Her first solo show is held in 1983 at the Institute. Her talent being widely recognized, Maka receives in the years 1984-1989 the Scholarship for the Exemplary Students at the Tbilisi State Institute of A. Pushkin, where she graduates with Distinction. In 1985 she takes part in the All-Soviet-Union Students’ Contest of Fine Arts in Moscow. The quality of her work earns her the First Prize. Maka Dadiani’s five exhibited works have been permanently kept at the Foundation of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Moscow, Russia.

A year before her Graduation, in 1988 Maka starts working as an Associate Professor at the Tbilisi State Institute of A. Pushkin, at the Department of Fine Arts. In 1989 she starts working as an artist at the famous painting studio of Tbilisi, called Artist's House, staffed with the ten greatest Georgian artists of that time. Maka Dadiani paints among artists such as Shalva Matuashvili, Merab Abramishvili, Nodar Badurashvili, Jemal Kukhalashvili, Tamaz Kakabadze, Levan Margiani, Besik Arbolishvili, etc. The Artist's House was directed by the well known Georgian artist, Prof. Temo Gotsadze.

Unfortunately, during the Georgian Civil War in 1991, the Artist's House burned completely down and many of her paintings were destroyed. Nevertheless, she continued to paint and took part in several exhibitions in the following years. Maka moved in 2004 to Zurich, Switzerland, where she works and lives until today.

Until 2006 Maka painted essentially with oil. Permanently looking for new ways of expression, she developed a special technique in order to obtain three-dimensional effects and relief forms. Her work, whether figurative or abstract, is based on profound academic knowledge and is characterized by immense expressivity and unfathomable sensitivity, as well as stylistic versatility and dynamism. Maka’s virtuosity as an outstanding portraitist and painter are broadly recognized. She created – among many other prominent personalities – a portrait of His Royal Highness King Juan Carlos I de Borbón of Spain. The Portrait has been kept since 2011 in the Collection of the Palacio de La Zarzuela in Madrid.

It is important to emphasize that Maka’s abstract paintings always depict a precise subject and are a result of a certain purpose, which she defines in the forefront. Maka’s abstractions intensely reflect her vivid emotions, feelings and character. Princess Maka’s superb way of visual storytelling is one of a kind.

Maka Dadiani frequently exhibits her works at private and public solo and collective exhibitions. Maka is a member of various artist unions such as Georgian Artist Association, Georgian Artists’ Guild, German Artists’ Union “Syrlin”, Swiss Artists’ Union “Artischock” as well as member of Ugo Guidi Museum in Tuscany, Italy.

Princess Maka is author of an innovative, ground-breaking approach in fine arts, called “Moving Fine Arts”. This seminal approach conceptualizes the creation of paintings with moving elements, which are incorporated into the painting with the help of an appliance. A part or two of a painting’s object moves based on an electric mechanism and imparts the painting a uniquely dynamic atmosphere, combined with an unprecedented coherence. Due to Maka’s brilliant, gigantic artistic talent, moving elements merge with the static part of the painting in the most harmonious manner and the picture reflects liveliness and integrity at each angle of its moving part in the process of the motion.

In 2019, with her “Moving Fine Arts” Princess Maka won the First Prize of The International Art’s Exhibition of the City of Lerici, Liguria, Italy.

In 2019-2023, Maka Dadiani's art had been curated by Mr. Jacob Abraham, President and Co-Founder of Fondation Artists-Way, Saint-Légier-La Chiésaz, Switzerland.

Maka Dadiani's art has been represented and supported by the Embassy of Georgia to the Swiss Confederation.

Maka's Publisher and Art Manager is Mr. Antonio Campanile, Editor of iNews, Swiss Multilingual Art & Lifestyle Magazine.

Maka Dadiani's art is currently curated by Mr. Heinz Playner, Director of PAKS Gallery, and Curator and Director of the MAMAG Modern Art Museum.

Vita

Selected Awards and Scholarships

Selected Solo Exhibitions

Selected Group Exhibitions

Selected Public Collections

Foundation of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Moscow, Russia

Dadiani Palace in Zugdidi, Mingrelia, Georgia

Selected Private Collections

Private Collection of King Juan Carlos I Borbón in Palacio de la Zarzuela, Madrid, Spain

Private Collection of Princess Caroline Murat, Monaco; Venice

Private Collection of Swiss entrepreneur Peter Sulzer, Switzerland

Private Collection of renowned violinist Liana Issakadze, Germany, France

Private Collection of Murano Glass collector Peter Grünbaum, Switzerland

Auction Houses and Price Databases

Montefiore Auction House

Artnet

Artprice

Bidspirit

MutualArt

Arcadja

Artsper

Art Unions, Associations and Foundations

Fondation Artists-Way

Georgian Artist Association

Georgian Artists’ Guild

German Artists’ Union “Syrlin”

Swiss Artists’ Union “Artischock”

Ugo Guidi Museum

Art Fairs

International Contemporary Art Fair at the Carrousel du Louvre, Paris, France

International Contemporary ART Biennale Basel, Basel, Switzerland

International Fine Art Cannes Biennale, Cannes, France

ART EXPO New York, New York, USA

Lausanne Art Fair, Switzerland

Contemporary Art Fair Monaco, Monaco

Art International Zurich, Switzerland

International Art Fair of Stuttgart, Messe Sindelfingen, Germany

International Fine Art Fair of Utrecht, Netherlands

The "Artist's House" of Tbilisi (1989-1991)

Between 1989-1991 Maka Dadiani was working as an artist at the renowned painting studio in Tbilisi, called Artist's House, which was staffed with ten greatest Georgian artists of that time. Maka Dadiani painted among artists such as Shalva Matuashvili, Merab Abramishvili, Nodar Badurashvili, Jemal Kukhalashvili, Tamaz Kakabadze, Levan Margiani, Besik Arbolishvili, etc. The Artist's House was directed by famous Georgian artist, Prof. Temo Gotsadze. During the Georgian Civil War in 1991, the Artist's House unfortunately burned completely down and many paintings of Maka Dadiani were destroyed.

Selected Publications, Press and Media