Photo

THE PAINTERS OF SORROW. Cont'd.

Photo: Church by Hagopyan (Hagopian).

In Hagopyan's works we see the suffering and the wisdom of Armenia", quite justly wrote a visitor to a Moscow exhibition of the artist's works. Born in Egypt and educated at the Armenian Melkonyan School on Cyprus and at the Académie de la Grande Chaumiére, Hagopyan first set foot on his native land at 40 years of age. The artist's talent overcame psychological barriers and soon put down roots in his new surroundings. In Armenia Hagopyan discovered something new, he found his own Armenia, and we are now used to looking at our surroundings with his eyes.] What lies behind his innovation? The art of Hagopyan is dramatic, with an all-encompassing disquiet born of the nature of contemporary life. There is a key to the deep under-layers of his conceptions, for if we study Hagopyan's landscapes attentively we see that the clouds, trees, vines or stones on the banks of Lake Sevan are not merely clouds, trees or stones but are personifications, the bearers of various emotions: fear, sorrow, loneliness, suffering...

Faithful to his national character, the artist was ever restrained. His pictures are based on a sound linear construction and the picture surface is bound of silent, imperceptible brushstrokes and a harmony of the finest shades of colors. Hagopyan fills his works with his most cherished hope - to see a world peaceful and untroubled.

HAROUTIUN GALENTZ (1908-1967)

Photo: View of a mountain, 1960

Galentz (1908-1967) is a survivor of the 1915 Armenian Genocide. French art historians called him “L’homme sans enfance”, meaning "who had no childhood”. In fact, Galentz grew up in an orphanage in Beyrouth, Lebanon. Inside and outside the orphanage, he encountered hard times and faced life with bitterness and despair. Hardships, sorrow and emotional insecurity of his childhood left deep and profound impressions on his spirit, psyche and art. Yet, his passion for life did not diminish a bit. On the contrary, Galentz nourished and motivated his appetite for life with constant quest for a better social living condition, determination and an accentuated flair of nonchalance. He did show it in his vibrant and explosively radiant colors. His visions of the world turned him into an eulogist of the picturesque beauty of life, and consequently, added more vitality to his vibrant and flamboyant palette. In 1946, he emigrated to his beloved Armenia. He spent the rest of his life searching for the authentic truth in art. He blended in the nature of Armenia and depicted it with passion and humanistic elegance on his canvases.