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5 Greatest Armenian Artists
Armenia gave birth to so many talented people and it is not as important whether they lived in their native land or not: you can take an Armenian from Armenia, but you can never take away Armenia from the Armenian. Creative people can describe their feelings toward their homeland in the best way, the artist conveys his feelings on canvas. Continuing the theme of the Armenian well-known people all over the world, we would like to introduce you the greatest Armenian artists.
Arshile Gorky
Arshile Gorky (Vostanik Manuk Adoyan), the artist of the twentieth century, is considered one of the founders of abstract surrealism. The American artist was born in Armenia, but during the genocide in 1915 was forced to leave the country. After the emigration the artist’s mother dies of hunger, and he moves to the United States.
The tragic fate of the artist reflected in his work. The most famous of his paintings, “Portrait of the Artist and his Mother” depicts the artist with his mother. The picture is painted from a photograph. The artist worked on the painting for a long time ove and over again experienced the horrors of genocide.
Despite the fact that Arshile Gorky left his homeland as a child, he was a true Armenian in his soul and it was proved in his letters to her sister, where he shared his thoughts about Armenia.
Martiros Saryan
Martiros Saryan one of the most famous artists of the Soviet Union. He was born in Russia, but was closely associated with the homeland. Rest of his life he spent in Yerevan, and created new masterpieces, which, after his death began to exhibit in the most famous galleries in the world.
The works of Martiros Saryan are reflection of nature and life of Armenia. His still lifes, landscapes and portraits are dedicated to Armenia.
During his life Martiros Saryan brought into the world a huge number of masterpieces, illustrated books and was engaged in decorating shows. His work was highly appreciated at the Venice International Exhibition, where the whole Europe learned about the talented Armenian artist.
Hovhannes Aivazovsky
Hovhannes Aivazovsky is deffinitely one of the most famous artists, whose work is today considered the most popular in the world.
Marine painter and collector Hovhannes Aivazovsky was born in a family of Armenian merchant. The family lived in Feodosia, on the beach, which was the inspiration for the future artist. Over a lifetime, the artist painted and left a legacy for generations that includes more than 6,000 paintings. One of the most famous paintings, “View of Constantinople and the Bosphorus” a few years ago was sold for $ 5.2 million.
Aivazovsky’s works also include paintings devoted to the homeland of his ancestors (“Sevan”, “Ararat”, “Massacre of Armenians in Trebizond”).
Hoviv Rene
One of the best cartoonists in Europe Hoviv Rene also has Armenian roots. Cartoonist born in Leon, France, during World War II, the family moved to Armenia, then was exiled to Siberia. In 1956 Hoviv Rene moved to Yerevan, then to Moscow and finally settled in Paris. His caricatures were published in the journals of Paris, thanks to which he has won several international awards.
Minas Avetisyan
Minas Avetisyan lived and worked in Armenia and in spite of this he was able to achieve great success thanks to his talent. The works of Minas Avetisyan are unique due to the bright contrasting of colors. Landscapes with rural motifs are radically different from the style of the artist’s contemporaries. His landscapes have no fixed objects or moments. The artist took landscape as a basis for painting, and endowed with additional layers with their own emotions, underlining or color mixing. Technique of muting brightness of one color and highlighting the other creates a unique contrast.
Unfortunately a large number of unique works were destroyed during a fire in his studio, but we can admire his masterpiece works that are exhibited in the State Tretyakov Gallery and many other foreign museums and galleries.