Painter
Painter
I was born in a country of the former USSR that no longer exists today. As a child, I drew like all children do, without knowing that painting would one day become my path. It was at the “Kanaz” House of Culture, under the guidance of Professor Vagharshakyan, that I first encountered art, in a sculpture class. I still remember my first sculpture — Napoleon on horseback — created from a reproduction of David. An article about me was even published in the newspaper Communist when I was eleven years old.
After finishing school, I entered the Ayramdjian Art School, and later the university. This was followed by military service in the Soviet Army, my first exhibitions, and work at a television studio. But after the collapse of the USSR, life changed dramatically: cold, hunger, darkness, war…
In 1992, I was invited to Moscow as an expert painter. That period remains vivid in my memory: the Regional Union of Artists of Moscow, the Les Oréades Gallery of Edmond Rosenfeld, and encounters with Kerop Soghomonyan and Shahen Khachatryan. Yet after a year, circumstances once again returned us to hardship and uncertainty.
The years 1994–1999 were the most difficult of my life. Without work, I did not sell a single painting for five years. In 2000, destiny led me to Germany. There, I worked intensely, especially in the evenings. I frequently visited the Dresden Gallery, which had a profound influence on my artistic development.
Several years later, I found myself in the Czech Republic, then in Moldova, before eventually returning to my homeland. I began a series of solo exhibitions at the Narekatsi Art Institute in Yerevan, followed by an exhibition-sale at the restaurant Oregano. On April 28, 2010, my wife Nana passed away, and I found myself starting over once again.
In 2014, my children moved to France and settled on the Côte d’Azur. There, I began to discover Provence — its colors, its light. A new era began in my professional life.