Cria : The Million Roses of Niko Pirosmani
How a Georgian painter’s heartbreak became a K-pop classic?
This enigmatic French actress's real name is Marguerite de Sèvre.
(Google's renditions are all over the place: Marguerite, Margarita, Margaritte)
Here’s Niko Pirosmani ’s work featuring Marguerite, the painter’s muse who became the motif for "Million Roses.”
That sleek Greyhound positioned boldly in the front row makes this Cria's favorite among his works.
Created one year before Pirosmani' s death, this is his second most famous painting.
This is biographical film about Niko Pirosmani was made in 1969. The late director Giorgi Shengelaia (1937~2020) was also from Georgia, the painter's homeland.
The movie , Pirosmani (1969) became Cria’s “Gem of the day" on YouTube, March 10th, 2019. The excitement was similar to discovering Derek Jarman’s Caravaggio (1986) in its entirety on YouTube.
This isn’t just a movie, every single frame feels like a panoramic view of fine art works. It’s truly another masterpiece by painter Pirosmani, a biographical film that perfectly embodies the term "Art film."
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Even if you don't understand the language, if you possess two eyes to behold beauty, do visit this free art film before it vanishes.
As you know, art and storytelling share an inseparable bond, so this plausible love story of "Million Roses" was an incredible stroke of fortune for Pirosmani, who remained an unknown painter throughout his life in the Georgian countryside in the Caucasus region.
After all, Niko Pirosmani, the subject of this biopic, inspired the Russian original sung by Alla Pugacheva. Then came Sim Soo-bong’s remake, which blew up in Korea , so much so that the song eventually felt kitschy, inescapable, and just a little too much.
The narrative embedded in this song goes roughly like this :
Niko Pirosmani fell in love with the beauty of French actress Marguerite de Sèvre, who was touring his hometown. Having struggled with poverty his entire life, he sold everything he owned to buy a million roses for her.
The actress, receiving these million roses scattered in front of her hotel, purchased with the painter's entire fortune, was apparently quite moved and bestowed upon Pirosmani his first and last kiss before flitting away from the village.
As later revealed, Marguerite eventually married the richest among the countless men who had coveted her.
"A star like me, who shines above everyone's heads, can never belong to just one person."...leaving behind such stellar (?) nonsense and obvious lies for posterity.
After watching this jewel-like biographical film made half a century ago, Cria tracked her later years through Google Images...
Cria discovered a single black and white photograph of her, withered and aged, taking an awkward commemorative shot in front of his portrait, which became the most famous of his remaining works.
How petty this seems.
Though she ultimately made an enormous contribution to leaving behind art through her role as Pirosmani’s muse, to ordinary souls like Cria of later generations, she remains the bad girl who stole a poor painter’s money and romance. (Why didn’t he just buy one rose ?! )
Yes, unlike historical records and romantic storytelling, real-life romance is often this brutal indeed.
© 2025 Cria. Original work. sharing is welcome with credit.
