May 2021
"Armenian Artists from Around the World"
Exhibit Opening date* - Thursday, May 20, 2021. Grand Opening Reception - Saturday, May 22nd, 2021, from 1-4 pm with RSVP**
*Gallery Hours: Thursdays 12-7 pm; Saturdays 12-5 pm.
**Appointments are strongly recommended with a 24 hour notice call: 401-454-8844 or e mail: bergezobian@aol.com
*Gallery Hours: Thursdays 12-7 pm; Saturdays 12-5 pm.
**Appointments are strongly recommended with a 24 hour notice call: 401-454-8844 or e mail: bergezobian@aol.com
"ARMENIAN ARTISTS - A RICH COLLECTION OF ORIGINAL ARMENIAN ART" ushers in Autumn at Studio Z, showcasing over 100 original works of original art in a breadth of contemporary styles and themes from our vast array of talented established Armenian artists. These nationally and internationally renowned, living and non-living artists from four corners of the world are exhibiting their original works in Providence, the capital city of Rhode Island, the smallest state in the union.
Some of the many artists on exhibit include Kevork Mourad (b.1970), three generations of Elibekian family painters, Simon Samsonian (b.1915 - d.2003), Zareh Mutafian (b.1907 - d.1980), Reuben Nakian (b.1897 - d.1986), Alexander Grigorian (b.1927 - d.2007), Hagop Hagopian (b.1923 - d.2013) and Rafael Atoyan (b.1931), Karnig Nalbandian (b.1916 - d.1989), Anoush Bargamian (b.1963), Martin Barooshian (b.1929), Seda Bekarian (b.1953), Samuel Gareginyan (b.1961), Emma Gregorian (b.1943), PAKRAD (b.1939), Harut Aghajanian (b.1956) among numerous others.
Featured artists include Simon Samsonian, b.1915-d.2003, Alexander Grigoryan, b.1927-d.2007,Simon Samsonian did not have a childhood. He lost his parents during the deportation and massacre of Armenia in 1915. He grew up in orphanages of Greece and Egypt. After many years of travel and tours of study, Samsonian acquired confidence and wielded his brush more freely. After a period of research he found his distinct style. Gradually he came to favor the school of cubism which he found more suited to his temperament and which he added an admixture of humanism and symbolism. He interprets nature in rich colors in the style of "symbolic cubism". The cultural periodical Park East, of New York, wrote "Simon Samsonian is a fine artist. His works have Cubist influence, but the paintings are his own superb creations. Using limpid color and contemporary subject matter he has painted landscapes, still life and portraits with strong purposeful technique."
Alexander Grigoryan, (b.1927-d.2007) was a dedicated student and follower of the worldwide known artist-painter Martiros Saryan. Grigoryan received Armenian Art's highest honor. He is endowed with a real gift of portrait painter. Grigorian has a sharp eye, capability of searching for the model's outer and inner resemblance and at the same time he preserves the integrated painting quality of the canvas. Grigorian does not betray nature and meanwhile doesn't merely copy what he sees. Alexander is known for portraits of famous Armenian figures such as William Saroyan, Alex Manookian and film producer Ruben Manuelian. His work is represented in the National Gallery, Yerevan, Armenia. Grigoryan has been a Member of the Artists Union since 1959.
Zareh Mutafian (1907-1980) was an Armenian orphan of the Genocide who became a famous French painter. His whole family was massacred during the 1915 Genocide. After joining the Near East Relief, first in Samsun, then Greece, he settled in Italy in1923, where the Mekhitarist fathers enabled him to study painting at the Brera Academy. After his first exhibition in 1933, he moved to Geneva and began painting Switzerland. After marrying a French Armenian dentist in 1939 and discovering the Impressionist and Fauvist painters in the Paris museums, he altered his style upon, introducing much more the color.
As an active member of the Parisian Armenian intelligentsia, Mutafian produced numerous books and articles, focusing on art history. Marine subjects inspired by Brittany became one of his favorites. An exhibition of his paintings in 1965 commemorated the fiftieth anniversary of the Genocide. After he was invited to Soviet Armenia in 1967 ,Mt. Ararat, Armenia's golden autumn and Armenia's beautiful monasteries entered his paintings. His last exhibition in France was called "The Sea" was in 1976, and in 1979, one year before his death, he organized his final exhibition, in New York, entitled "Armenia seen by Mutafian".
Zareh Mutafian's work is presented by his son Armen (Claude) Z. Mutafian, a mathematician and historian in Paris specializing in Armenian history, the author of several books on the history of Armenia and a Foreign Member of Armenian Academy of Sciences.
Plus, Harut Aghajanian is an Armenian artist born in Iran in 1956. He studied at Terlemezian College art school in Yerevan from 1984 to 1987; in 2002 he was awarded a prize by the Gemmayse Development Association ( ADG). His paintings have been exhibited in the Beirut, Lebanon, art galleries Bronte and Zeina Sultan, and in Boston. Many of his works are in private collections in the United States and several European countries. This exhibit includes a selection of beautifully balanced exquisite figurative works on paper in both black and white and soft wash tones. In some, animal heads emerge tucked amongst finely drawn huddled human figures.
Some of the many artists on exhibit include Kevork Mourad (b.1970), three generations of Elibekian family painters, Simon Samsonian (b.1915 - d.2003), Zareh Mutafian (b.1907 - d.1980), Reuben Nakian (b.1897 - d.1986), Alexander Grigorian (b.1927 - d.2007), Hagop Hagopian (b.1923 - d.2013) and Rafael Atoyan (b.1931), Karnig Nalbandian (b.1916 - d.1989), Anoush Bargamian (b.1963), Martin Barooshian (b.1929), Seda Bekarian (b.1953), Samuel Gareginyan (b.1961), Emma Gregorian (b.1943), PAKRAD (b.1939), Harut Aghajanian (b.1956) among numerous others.
Featured artists include Simon Samsonian, b.1915-d.2003, Alexander Grigoryan, b.1927-d.2007,Simon Samsonian did not have a childhood. He lost his parents during the deportation and massacre of Armenia in 1915. He grew up in orphanages of Greece and Egypt. After many years of travel and tours of study, Samsonian acquired confidence and wielded his brush more freely. After a period of research he found his distinct style. Gradually he came to favor the school of cubism which he found more suited to his temperament and which he added an admixture of humanism and symbolism. He interprets nature in rich colors in the style of "symbolic cubism". The cultural periodical Park East, of New York, wrote "Simon Samsonian is a fine artist. His works have Cubist influence, but the paintings are his own superb creations. Using limpid color and contemporary subject matter he has painted landscapes, still life and portraits with strong purposeful technique."
Alexander Grigoryan, (b.1927-d.2007) was a dedicated student and follower of the worldwide known artist-painter Martiros Saryan. Grigoryan received Armenian Art's highest honor. He is endowed with a real gift of portrait painter. Grigorian has a sharp eye, capability of searching for the model's outer and inner resemblance and at the same time he preserves the integrated painting quality of the canvas. Grigorian does not betray nature and meanwhile doesn't merely copy what he sees. Alexander is known for portraits of famous Armenian figures such as William Saroyan, Alex Manookian and film producer Ruben Manuelian. His work is represented in the National Gallery, Yerevan, Armenia. Grigoryan has been a Member of the Artists Union since 1959.
Zareh Mutafian (1907-1980) was an Armenian orphan of the Genocide who became a famous French painter. His whole family was massacred during the 1915 Genocide. After joining the Near East Relief, first in Samsun, then Greece, he settled in Italy in1923, where the Mekhitarist fathers enabled him to study painting at the Brera Academy. After his first exhibition in 1933, he moved to Geneva and began painting Switzerland. After marrying a French Armenian dentist in 1939 and discovering the Impressionist and Fauvist painters in the Paris museums, he altered his style upon, introducing much more the color.
As an active member of the Parisian Armenian intelligentsia, Mutafian produced numerous books and articles, focusing on art history. Marine subjects inspired by Brittany became one of his favorites. An exhibition of his paintings in 1965 commemorated the fiftieth anniversary of the Genocide. After he was invited to Soviet Armenia in 1967 ,Mt. Ararat, Armenia's golden autumn and Armenia's beautiful monasteries entered his paintings. His last exhibition in France was called "The Sea" was in 1976, and in 1979, one year before his death, he organized his final exhibition, in New York, entitled "Armenia seen by Mutafian".
Zareh Mutafian's work is presented by his son Armen (Claude) Z. Mutafian, a mathematician and historian in Paris specializing in Armenian history, the author of several books on the history of Armenia and a Foreign Member of Armenian Academy of Sciences.
Plus, Harut Aghajanian is an Armenian artist born in Iran in 1956. He studied at Terlemezian College art school in Yerevan from 1984 to 1987; in 2002 he was awarded a prize by the Gemmayse Development Association ( ADG). His paintings have been exhibited in the Beirut, Lebanon, art galleries Bronte and Zeina Sultan, and in Boston. Many of his works are in private collections in the United States and several European countries. This exhibit includes a selection of beautifully balanced exquisite figurative works on paper in both black and white and soft wash tones. In some, animal heads emerge tucked amongst finely drawn huddled human figures.
