Natia Sikharulidze

Galaktion Tabidze’s 1919 collection Artistic Flowers is one of the central texts of Georgian modernism, in which the intertextual influence and cultural reception of European, particularly French, Symbolism are clearly evident. The collection is not merely an aesthetic experiment, but also a space of cultural dialogue in which Georgian poetry becomes integrated into the broader system of world literature.

The aesthetic code of European Symbolism is already articulated at the level of the title and the programmatic epigraphs. The French-language title (CRANE AUX FLEURS ARTISTIQUES) and quotations from Charles Baudelaire, Théophile Gautier, Paul Verlaine, and Henri de Régnier create an intertextual framework in which melancholy, musicality, and the symbolism of color (“pink and black”) emerge as dominant artistic principles. In this context, Paul Verlaine becomes for Galaktion a “lost father,” while Paris emerges as a center of spiritual orientation.

An important dimension of the collection is the reception of Edgar Allan Poe, whose influence is transformed in Galaktion’s texts into a mystical model of “black poetry.” Images derived from Poe—Lenore and the raven—create an intertextual bridge between reality and mystical experience and reinforce the tragic-philosophical tone characteristic of European modernism.

Of particular significance is the intermedial dialogue with painting and music. The collection refers to Botticelli, Goya, Mozart, and other European artists. This intertextual network expands the boundaries of the poetic text and transforms it into a visual and acoustic space.

Artistic Flowers also reveals a model of aristocratic aestheticism and decadent culture, represented through the symbolism of Versailles, Trianon, and Marie Antoinette. Within the same cultural space, dandyism and aesthetic individualism approach European modernist forms of self-expression.

Despite its strong European orientation, the collection preserves a distinctly Georgian cultural foundation. Images of Rustaveli, Mtskheta, and Mtatsminda, together with Georgian historical and religious spaces, are integrated into the European context, creating a synthesis of the universal and the national. In this way, Galaktion places Georgian lyric poetry within a global cultural dialogue and develops a new modernist poetic language.