Scans: January 2012

Friday, January 27, 2012

Hakop Kojoyan, 1883-1959

David of Sasun, 1922.

Dining House in Tabriz, 1922.

Street in Tabriz, 1922.

Autumn in Yerevan, 1923.

Cavalry, 1921.

Mount Aragats. Early Spring. 1923.

Armenian Herald, 1921.

Armenian Stylization, 1923.

Illustration to the Fairytale "Magic Bird", 1925.

In his first paintings ("Street in Tabriz", "Dining House in Tabriz"), Kodjoyan captured his Orient - somewhat stylized, colourful, exotice - with humour.

From 1920 and onwards the artists was inspired by the great idea of the renaissane of his native land and in both his paintings and his graphic works he sought to combine hthe past of his people with their present. He produced numerous original book illustration, taking Armenian graphic art to unheard of heights.

Kodjoyan was brought up in a jeweller's family and graduated from the Munich Academy of Arts but the main influence on his art was Armenian manuscript illumination of which he made a detailed study.

His outstanding graphic work "David of Sassun" depicts various episodes from the life of tis hero of the national epic tale. The expressive drawing and whimsical invention of this masterpiece correspond to the spirit and passion of the literary masterpiece.

Other works are in much the same key, among them are the "Armenian Herald" and the illustrations to the folk tale "The MagicBird". The artist gives his landscapes, with their dark grey tones, a unique feeling, wrapping them in an historic atmosphere.

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Sedrak Arakelyan, 1884-1942

Village Yard, 1927.

Drying Wheat, 1920.

Baking Bread, 1914.

Near the Mill, 1924.

Spring in Yerevan, 1925.

Near the Spring, 1928.

Lake Sevan, 1940.

I think I will include the short descriptions provided by the book (Peintres Armeniens 19th-20th centuries) I'm using currently to accompany the artist's works. They aren't translated very well (and also a bit on the cheesy side) but still informational.

While Saryan revealed the epic quality of nature in his native land and Kodjoyan imbued it with a sense of heroic history, the colourful palette of Arakelyan gave it a quiet spirituality and lyricism. He had an incredible fine sense of the charm of old Armenian villages and created beauty from the most simple corners of his native land, places which would at first seem to be unnoticeable.

Arakelyan was born near Nakhichevan (now in Azerbaijan), and studied in Tbilisi under Egishe Tatevosyan and then under Konstantin Korovin in Moscow.

His creative method was born through direct communication with nature. In his landscapes the artist opens up to the onlooker his warm and loving soul, revealing the purity of his feelings and his trepidation before the surrounding world. Arakelyan was skilled in capturing fleeting moments: when he painted Sevan, he was seized with youthful passion: when he spoke with the severe hills, he was thoughtful and manly: when he saw the union of people and animals on earth, he became drunk on happiness.

Under the master's touch the image of the Armenian landscape was enriched with intimacy and elegiacal quality.