YEREVAN COLLECTORS’ CHOICE CAFESJIAN CENTER FOR THE ARTS Presents selected works from the private collections of
Oshin Yeghiazariantz Poghos Haytayan Robert Elibekian
Cafesjian Museum Foundation Yerevan 2012
This catalog is published on the occasion of the exhibition Yerevan Collectors’ Choice. The exhibition presents selected works of Armenian art of 19-20th centuries from the private collections of Oshin Yeghiazariantz, Poghos Haytayan and Robert Elibekian. Curators: Lilit Sargsyan, art critic Astghik Marabyan, art historian Associate Director for Public Programs, Cafesjian Museum Foundation Author of the catalog: Astghik Marabyan, art historian Associate Director for Public Programs, Cafesjian Museum Foundation Catalog text: Foreword: Vahagn Marabyan, Acting Executive Director, Cafesjian Museum Foundation Introduction: Lilit Sargsyan, art critic Translator: Hrant-Harry Gadarigian Photography: All documentary photographs appear courtesy of the archives of collectors. Photos of the works of art: Copyright by the Cafesjian Museum Foundation Photographer: Sargis Adamyan Cover design: Aram Shahinyan Design and layout: Renata S. Printed in Armenia by “Tigran Mets” Publishing House © 2012, Cafesjian Museum Foundation All rights reserved. No part of the content of this publication may be reproduced without prior written permission from the Cafesjian Museum Foundation. ISBN 978-9939-9068-1-2
YEREVAN COLLECTORS’ CHOICE
Foreword 9 Private Art Collections: Public Value or Private Property? Old and New Classics: The first exhibition of the Yerevan Collectors’ Choice Project
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Oshin Yeghiazariantz’ Collection 17 Subjective Appraisal as Objectivity
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Works in the Exhibition 21
Poghos Haytayan’s Collection 41 Poghos Haytayan: The Art Critic and His Collection
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Works in the Exhibition 45
Robert Elibekian’s Collection 67 Robert Elibekian: “Collection as a Worldview”
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Works in the Exhibition 73
Works in the Catalog 94
Foreword
he initiative of the Cafesjian Center for the Arts, to uncover private art T collectors residing in Armenia and to exhibit their collections, is unprecedented in Armenia. By assuming such a challenging project, the Cafesjian Center for the Arts is creating a unique cultural platform for other private collectors to show their works in a museum setting and to recognize the role of the private collector as a contributor in the preservation of our cultural inheritance. With the Yerevan Collectors’ Choice exhibition, the Cafesjian Center for the Arts presents selected works of three collectors – the art critic Poghos Haytayan, the painter Robert Elibekian and the architect Oshin Yeghiazariantz. This exhibition reaffirms the artistic significance of these collections, endowed as they are with works by renowned Armenian artists spanning the 19th-20th centuries, and offers a unique bridge for cultural dialogue between the individual and the public. I congratulate and express my gratitude to all those who made the Yerevan Collectors’ Choice exhibition a reality through their hard work and tireless efforts. We are grateful to Gerard L. Cafesjian, the founder of the Cafesjian Center for the Arts, whose vision and endless inspiration have become a guiding light for many people in Armenia and the Diaspora. We extend our sincere gratitude to the collectors – Poghos Haytayan, Robert Elibekian and Oshin Yeghiazariantz – who generously agreed to participate in this unique exhibition, making their collections accessible to the public. We also sincerely thank art critic Lilit Sargsyan, who jointly curated the exhibition and penned the catalog texts. I would also like to thank the entire staff of the Cafesjian Center for the Arts for their continuing dedication to the Cafesjian legacy in making this project come to life. We are confident the Yerevan Collectors’ Choice exhibition will offer new discoveries for art lovers, whether in Armenia or overseas, as many of the works by these renouned artists are on public exhibit for the first time. In doing so, the exhibition reaffirms the mission of the Cafesjian Center for the Arts – to present the best of the world’s culture to Armenia and the best of Armenia’s culture to the world. Vahagn Marabyan Acting Executive Director Cafesjian Museum Foundation 9
Private Art Collections: Public Value or Private Property?
When we speak about Yerevan’s private art collectors, we need to ask the following questions – Who are they? What role do they play in the overall cultural system, when influencing the art community or the art market? What is their role in the process of encouraging recognition of Armenian art internationally and in elevating the appreciation of that art? Furthermore, do these collectors contribute to the preservation of cultural values? While these questions have yet gone unanswered in Armenia, international practice has proven the important public role that private collectors play. The Cafesjian Center for the Arts, an institution that has significantly contributed to the cultural life of Armenia, is now launching an initiative that can truly be considered unprecedented. Private collections have never been exhibited locally in Armenia. This practice, however, has been widely discussed and is regarded as one of the painful problems not only of our history and culture, but of modernity itself. Perhaps, this project will provide some answers to the above noted questions and spur greater public appreciation of the private art collections in our midst. As a liberal-bourgeois cultural phenomenon, private art collections first appeared in an Armenian context during the 19th century; in the large Armenian exile communities that doubled as cultural centers. The names Mantashev, Gulbenkian (whose collection later turned into a museum), Abamelik-Lazarev, Zambakhchian and others, have been inscribed in the annals of Armenian history. Armenia, sadly, has irretrievably allowed the inheritance of these patrons of the arts. In our day, the brightest examples of the investment of Diaspora capital into Armenian culture have been the great philanthropists and maecenases Alex Manougian and Gerard Cafesjian. It is known that history repeats itself and today, twenty years after Armenia declared its independence, we would do well to reflect on our current reality which, in part, also bears elements of our Soviet legacy. Unquestionably, such reflection must include an attempt to make private property accessible to the public. This is a two-way process in which privately held art is made available to the public and, in turn, is appreciated by wide segments of society. In the Soviet totalitarian system, the private sector was seen as a bourgeois holdover that could only exist in the shadows. Today, we are faced with the challenge of bringing the private back into the public realm. An atmosphere 11
of mutual trust can facilitate such a meeting of the private and the public. The government must ensure an advantageous legal environment for such a meeting, whilst private collectors must express a willingness to exhibit what they own. One can say that the process to amass or privatize art, as well as the germs of arts patronage that failed to produce fruit, largely developed during the 1960s; the years of “liberal communism” in Soviet Armenia. The monopoly hold on the creative sector was no longer exclusively in the hands of ideological and regimented state sponsorship. For some consumers of free art who surfaced during that period (scientists, physicians, intellectuals, government officials, illicit entrepreneurs), collecting art had an aesthetic significance with undertones of patronage (here we need merely note the well-known names of biologist Dr. A.Takhtadjyan, physicist Professor A. Alikhanyan and biochemist, academician Hrachya Buniatyan). For others, it was a way to invest any discrectionary financial resources. During the 1960s and 1970s, regarded as Yerevan’s urban cultural “Golden Age”, the first harbingers of the crumbling of the totalitarian system appeared, in large measure due to the creation of a bourgeois oriented sub-culture and sub-economy. The expanding links with the Diaspora and increasing diplomatic missions with the outside world, assisted in the shaping of Armenia’s private art sector and the export of Armenian art. In international practice, as well as in Soviet Armenia, private donations served as the base of museum collections. This is true for Armenia’s main museum, the National Gallery, the Matenadaran, the Etchmiadzin Museum and other Yerevan art museums. The Martiros Saryan and Ervand Kotchar Museums, the Minas Avetisyan and Giotto-Grigorian branch museums of the National Gallery, the Harutyun Galents Museum (a unique example of today’s “family” museums sustained through state assistance), and others, were founded on the family collections donated by the descendants of the great artists. The collection at the Russian Art Museum, donated by Professor Aram Abrahamyan, is a unique example of art patronage in the Armenian context. The process of making individual collections public in a museum context is not easy, since it involves a wide-range of legal, financial and technical problems that crop up in the private property – state system mix. As a singular example of a relationship arising in the individual and the state system mix, as well as in the ideological arena, there is Henrik Igityan and the phenomenon of the Contemporary Art Museum he founded in 1972. In essence, it had the status of a state museum in the Soviet era, despite being founded by one individual. It remains the largest collection of Soviet Armenian national modernism to date. During the era of independence, the legalization of the free market and the 12
privatization process became the imperative of the day. This was inexorably linked to decentralization and liberalization – in a word, casting off the Soviet legacy. This process also included the arts. The first private galleries were created, challenged with moulding an arts milieu and bringing the art market into the public realm, both legally and logistically. While an arts milieu may have been partially created in the initial phase, by the mid-2000s it was clear that the idea of having a network of private galleries in Armenia had failed. Works of art were again relegated to being circulated on the fringes, amongst a narrow realm of individuals. We can distinguish two major groups in the world of Yerevan collections – let us conditionally call them the professional (intellectuals and art community representatives) and non-professional (entrepreneurs, state officials) groups. Collections belonging to the former comprise a part of their life history and have been mostly assembled via professional contacts, encounters, donations or exchanges. Such collections are imbued with a personal significance for the owner, reflecting as they do his/her particular artistic preferences and outlooks, their engagement in a specific artistic period and environment. Nevertheless, these factors do not rule out the possibility of obtaining art works through purchase. For the second group, we are primarily seeing art collecting as a financial investment where, in addition to aesthetic preferences, purely marketrelated factors are of great significance. Hence, this first exhibition of Yerevan’s private collections became possible due to the shared willingness and enthusiasm of three collectors to make their private holdings accessible to the public. We are confident that the Cafesjian Art Center’s idea to make this initial presentation an ongoing tradition will also be borne out.
Old and New Classics: The First Exhibition of the Yerevan Collectors’ Choice Project One can say that the rational and harmonious cohesiveness of this premier exhibition, a selection culled from the collections of Oshin Yeghiazariantz, Poghos Haytayan and Robert Elibekian, took shape on its own. This is due to the stance of the collectors’ aesthetic preferences, as well as the commonality of the road they have travelled and their fates. All are intellectuals who have made a contribution to Armenian culture and art. 13
The scope of the selected works corresponds to the “Tiflis School” of second half of the 19th century and the Diaspora (Hakob Hovnatanian, Arsene Chabanian, Edgar Shahin), pre-modernism (Yeghishe Tadevossian) – and the “national modernism”1 stretching from the awakening emblematic of the 1960s-1970s until the 1980s. In the founding of this “national modernism”, a large part was also played by a new wave of immigration from the Diaspora, by the children of the collectors, i.e. the works of young generation artists (Ara Haytayan, Nvard Haytayan, Areg Elibekian). Singularly stressed are the Tiflis School (whose history begins with Hakob Hovnatanian, one of the earliest classical authors of the selected works) and the Tiflis+Yerevan factor in the formative stage of the 1960s-1970s national modernism. The “Tiflis essence” as well as the Diaspora current nurtured and enriched the decades-old Yerevan arts milieu and Armenian fine arts with new hues. However, under the term “Tiflis essence”, we not only refer to the concept of belonging to this “school”, but the deeper psychological, aesthetic and point of view functions that these artists with Tiflis roots possessed. This streak is present in the works of Ervand Kotchar, members of the Bajbeuk-Melikian and Elibekian family, Hakobjan Gharibjanyan, Hovsep Karalian and Gevorg Grigorian-Giotto. One of the main hallmarks of the exhibition is also the cohesive harmony due to the ElibekianHaytayan-Adalian family ties, as well as the existence of works representing particular interest due to these ties. This would have been nearly impossible to find in museum collections. We have been granted a fabulous opportunity to present the members of these three families in the scope of one project. As collectors, artists and, at the same time models of the creations presented, who contributed to the modernization of Armenian fine arts during the 1960s to 1970s, they had a lasting impact on artistic life in Yerevan. Henry and Robert Elibekian (sons of noted Tiflis theatrical figure and later “naivist” painter Vagharshak Elibekian), and the brothers Ruben and Raffi Adalian, were the leading masters of national modernism. There is Poghos Haytayan, an art critic, who supported the modernist artists and was an enthusiastic defender of their artistic legacy since Soviet times. Alongside their fathers, the children come to the fore. Ara Haytayan is not only a painter but now works as a curator and art critic in Yerevan; there are the gifted painters Areg Elibekian, and Nvard Haytayan, a true discovery of this exhibition. Alongside the above mentioned family collections, the collection of Diaspora artist and activist Oshin Yeghiazariantz feels right at home since he is drawn to works having Tiflis roots and the Armenian modernist artists of the 1960s, even though his collection has its fair share of the old Armenian classicists as well.
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Here “national modernism” denotes, in general terms, that sector outside of and in opposition to the aesthetics of “social-realism” existing in Armenian art during the period mentioned. 14
By compiling a small “best of� collection of 19th-20th century Armenian art, we get a glimpse of the individual collector in the background. We come away with the conviction that these collectors, with their dedication, personal aesthetic aspirations and preferences, today serve as defenders of our cultural inheritance and active players in the art world. Lilit Sargsyan, art critic
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Oshin Yeghiazariantz’s Collection
The purpose of collecting is to basically preserve the exceptionally rich heritage of the past to create an interchangeable podium and expose the local contemporary talents to the world. Oshin Yeghiazariantz
Oshin Yeghiazariantz’s Collection: Subjective Appraisal as Objectivity 1945 - Born in Tehran, where he attended high school. 1962 - Moved to Paris. 1973 - graduated from the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris. He collaborated with Jacques Pierre Lecoq, a French actor, mime and acting instructor who founded the theory of dramatic spaces. He later worked with internationally renowned cinematographers and theatrical figures. Yeghiazariantz relocated to Yerevan in 1999.
Oshin Yeghiazariantz (from left) and Vazgen Bajbeuk-Melikian in Vazgen Bajbeuk-Melikian’s Studio, Yerevan Photograph Courtesy of the Archives of Oshin Yeghiazariantz
Oshin Yeghiazariantz is always to be found where the pulse of Armenian society throbs. An architect by profession, he is also a social activist, a producer of cinematic and animation film, a patron and a collector. Like many other Diaspora Armenians, the 1988 earthquake was the motivating force behind his mission to Armenia. The Artsakh War was yet to come and when it broke out he directed his activities to the assistance of Artsakh. In 1989, France secured him a spot in the negotiations process. As a result, the relief organizations International Doctors and Doctors without Borders came to Artsakh. Today, he serves on the board of the organization Shen, a NGO that carries out social/cultural projects in Artsakh. Yeghiazariantz is an artistic individual who is an inseparable part of Yerevan’s bohemian culture. He is open and communicative, a free spirit with a streak of independence, just like “a world traveller”. As the bearer of two cultures, Middle 18
Eastern and European, we can say that he has been integrated into Armenian reality not only through his dynamic activities but also by way of his collection. He collects works that, in his own words, “he falls in love with”. Sharing the temperament characteristic of an artist is vital for a collector. Yeghiazariantz stands out for his love of artists who are bigger than life personalities with fiery dispositions, and these traits make a mark on their art as well. One part of Yeghiazariantz’ collection is in Paris, the other one is in Yerevan. For this project, we are focusing on the Yerevan collection. As a collector, he is guided by the principle of exclusively obtaining works of Armenian artists. Yeghiazariantz’ collection began to take shape in Paris during the mid-1970s. It was the Afro-Armenian artist Skounder, whose works Armenian art aficionados would come to know later, and the works of Asadour, an artist whom the collector met in Paris and who was already recognized by Armenians, that spurred Yeghiazariantz to start his collection. The Yerevan collection dates back to 2000. Attempting to follow the logic of the inclusivity of Armenian fine arts, we must revisit Tiflis of the 19th century – the cradle of the Armenian fine arts awakening and its development. The earliest of classical works in this exhibition are the canvases of Hakob Hovnatanian (the Tiflis trailblazer of Armenian realist portraiture) and Tiflis resident Yeghishe Tadevossian. The collector obtained them in Tiflis, from the private collections of various Armenian families. We know that the Tadevossian landscape painting exhibited here was owned by the wealthy Sahakov family before the 1917 revolution. Of note is that it is two-sided, with the clear traces of the author’s hand which preordain the composition’s horizontal aspects. The background in the archetypal portrait painted by Hovnatanian is of interest. It is not neutral, flat or uncommunicative, but rather an expansive scene that reminds one of a mountain landscape. Of the Armenian “old” classics in Yeghiazariantz’ collection, we should also note one of the three etchings of Edgar Chahine, the famous French-Armenian graphic and etchings/engravings master, displayed in the exhibition. In this example of the “social” theme so characteristic of the painter’s art, the portrait of the boy’s mother, painted when Edgar was still a youth, not only elicits tenderness, but feelings of pain. We spoke about national modernism and the “Tiflis identity” regarding the collections of P. Haytayan and R. Elibekian, taking into account that these collectors were participants in the formation of the above mentioned artistic movements and that this greatly assisted in establishing their collections. In the case of Yeghiazariantz it is the perspective of an artist, an art connoisseu, 19
one who appreciates art regardless of life’s fortunes, that puts him on intimate terms with the local fine arts community. Thus, Yeghiazariantz’ collection, via its best samples, also allows us to form a picture of the works of national modernist Armenian artists. Martin Petrossian (as well as the fauvist canvas in the Haytayan collection, so unusual for the painter), Seyran Khatlamajian (whose lyric abstraction is interesting to view alongside this painter’s pre-abstract landscape work from the collection of R. Elibekian), Henry Elibekian (one example of his late period expressive nudes), Edward Kharazian (late period lyric abstract), Zuleyka Bajbeuk-Melikian (one fabulous minimalist composition), Ashot Hovhannisyan and G. GrigorianGiotto. The works of the last two artists not only reflect formal experimentation, but also the changes brought about by the social upheavals of the 1960s in the portraiture genre – the creation and general depiction of the concerned intellectual, the “thinking man”. The existence of the cross in the self-portraits displayed by A. Hovhannisyan is not accidental; it is the symbol of spiritual principle and sacrifice encountered in many of Minas Avetisyan’s works. This leitmotif in G. Grigorian-Giotto’s portraits also has links to the earliest examples of an enlightened/intellectual character submerged in his own internal mental and spiritual world - Ervand Kotchar’s Poet: Vahan Tekeyan (1924), Resurrection (1923) or Italian Poet (1922). It would be impossible to imagine the heights attained by Armenian fine arts in the 1960s absent Ervand Kotchar’s creations and influence. Fortunately, two works from the Paris era (1926) of this pioneer of Armenian modernism are on display in the exhibition, thanks to Yeghiazariantz’ collection. Yeghiazariantz’ collection also boasts a veritable “best of” selection of the works of Vazgen Bajbeuk-Melikian, of which only three are on display in the exhibition. They are autobiographical, while at the same time imparting a tragic and spiritual meaning. Bajbeuk-Melikian and Yeghiazariantz were close friends. Yeghiazariantz sums up his deep understanding of what it means to be an artist thusly: “Vazgen was an aviator. Not many know this. It was as if he was flying in this life. He was not bound to this earth and remained in the heavens.”
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Works in the Exhibition
Hakob Hovnatanian (1806-1881) Portrait of a Man Oil on canvas 28x24 cm On Loan from the Private Collection of Oshin Yeghiazariantz 22
Yeghishe Tadevossian (1870-1936) Landscape with Figures Oil on canvas 16x70 cm On Loan from the Private Collection of Oshin Yeghiazariantz 23
Edgar Chahine (1874-1947) Mother and Child Etching 32x22 cm On Loan from the Private Collection of Oshin Yeghiazariantz 24
Ervand Kotchar (1899-1979) Untitled 1926 Pencil on paper 18x14 cm On Loan from the Private Collection of Oshin Yeghiazariantz 25
Ervand Kotchar (1899-1979) Anahit 1926 Oil on canvas 17,8x15 cm On Loan from the Private Collection of Oshin Yeghiazariantz 26
Henry Elibekian (b. 1936) The Nude 1997 Watercolor on paper 52x75 cm On Loan from the Private Collection of Oshin Yeghiazariantz 27
Martin Petrossian (b. 1933) Couple 1960s Oil on canvas 97x72 cm On Loan from the Private Collection of Oshin Yeghiazariantz 28
Martin Petrossian (b. 1933) Landscape 1979 Oil on canvas 65x40 cm On Loan from the Private Collection of Oshin Yeghiazariantz 29
Gevorg Grigorian (Giotto) (1897-1976) Portrait of a Man 1962 Oil on canvas 65x54 cm On Loan from the Private Collection of Oshin Yeghiazariantz 30
Ashot Hovhannissian (1929-1997) Self-portrait 1993 Oil on canvas 70x51 cm On Loan from the Private Collection of Oshin Yeghiazariantz 31
Seyran Khatlamajian (1937-1994) Abstract Composition 1978 Oil on canvas 66x74 cm On Loan from the Private Collection of Oshin Yeghiazariantz 32
Edward Kharazian (b. 1939) Composition 1991 Oil on canvas 54x65 cm On Loan from the Private Collection of Oshin Yeghiazariantz 33
Zuleyka Bajbeuk-Melikian (b. 1939) Moonlight 2001-2002 Oil on canvas 81x104 cm On Loan from the Private Collection of Oshin Yeghiazariantz 34
Vazgen Bajbeuk-Melikian (1941-2004) Christ 1990 Oil on wood 25x18 cm On Loan from the Private Collection of Oshin Yeghiazariantz 35
Vazgen Bajbeuk-Melikian (1941-2004) Self-portrait 2000 Mixed media 117x101 cm On Loan from the Private Collection of Oshin Yeghiazariantz 36
Vazgen Bajbeuk-Melikian (1941-2004) Holy Virgin 1989 Mixed media 50x38 cm On Loan from the Private Collection of Oshin Yeghiazariantz 37
Hakob Gyurjian (1881-1948) Statuette of a Woman Circa 1915 Bronze Height: 26 cm On Loan from the Private Collection of Oshin Yeghiazariantz 38
Hakob Gyurjian (1881-1948) Seated Figure 1915 Bronze Height: 20 cm On Loan from the Private Collection of Oshin Yeghiazariantz 39
Poghos Haytayan’s Collection
My small collection started to take shape in parallel with my professional studies (art history). Since my student years, the majority of my friends were painters, sculptors. Later, by the will of fate, both my younger sister and I made family ties with artists (Rouben and Raffi Adalians, Henry and Robert Elibekians), who, on various occasions (birthday, memorable days, professional cooperation, etc.), generously presented their art works. With time a small art collection coalesced. There were also exchanges, to refresh the works of artists. On various occasions Martin Petrossian, Rafael Atoyan, Ferdinant Manukyan and sculptors Youri Petrosyan, Hrant Hovsepyan and Al. Papovyan presented their works. A number of artworks by my son Ara Haytayan were added to the collection later. The ambience created by these pieces has become an inseparable part of my life.
Poghos Haytayan
Poghos Haytayan: The Art Critic and His Collection 1936 - Born in Beirut. 1946 - Family relocated to Soviet Armenia. 1966 – Graduated from I. E. Repin Leningrad Institute of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. Employment: 1961-1965 – Academy of Arts of the USSR; 1965-1970 – Yerevan Institute of Fine Arts and Theater; 1970-1982 – Encyclopedia of Armenia (Editorial Board); 1970-1982 – National Gallery of Armenia, Deputy Director of Science Sector; 1987-1992 – Union of Painters, Secretary; 19921998 – Union of Painters, President. The author of numerous articles, catalogs, albums and books. 2012 – Recipient of RA Ministry of Culture’s Gold Medal; Recipient of Movses Khorentasi Medal. Poghos Haytayan, 1971 Photo by Andranik Kochar Photograph Courtesy of the Archives of Poghos Haytayan
Yerevan, Nikol Duman Street (formerly Nakhimov). There are private homes hidden behind the different walls and fences that convey their age... Many repatriated families like the Haytayans took up residence here in the postwar years. Today, the house built in 1958 by the art historian’s father, Karapet Haytayan, stands out amongst the new buildings with its imposing tufa stone. This house was destined to become a historic site, gathering under its wings and providing safe haven to the founders of Yerevan’s artistic golden age, the1960s generation, and their successors. At one time, the Elibekians and Martin Petrossian lived here. So did Ervand Gojabashyan, the gifted sculpture 42
who later emigrated to the United States. He left behind a hand carved memento on the tufa wall of the house. It would be correct to say that Poghos Haytayan’s collection begins right here, at the entrance to his house. Poghos Haytayan’s collection started to take shape from the mid 20th century onwards, as he took the first steps into his “grand life” to follow. The collection is mainly comprised of art works of the Ervand Gojabashyan (b. 1939) A Relief on the Wall of Poghos Haytayan’s House second half of the 20th century, with “national modernism” at its core. As noted, the collection is an inseparable part and reflection of Haytayan’s life. The aptly named “family album” (a series of Haytayan family member portraits painted by Henry Elibekian, Robert Elibekian, Rouben Adalian and Vruir Galstian) holds a special place in the collection. Two unique portraits, as yet unknown to the public at large, painted by R. Adalian in his early stage are of particular interest. The first, is an oil sketch for Adalian’s graduation project, the Battle of Avarayr composition (1956), for which a very young Poghos Haytayan himself served as a model. The second, is the “modernist” infused graphic Melancholy, for which Seda Adalian, the artist’s sister, constant muse and future wife of Haytayan, served as a model. Both R. Adalian and Henri and Robert Elibekian, while retaining the features of their own models, imparted a character presentation to them at the same time – making the character at one with the exploration of the era, the language and style, with the aesthetic composition, and, in the end, with the vortex of personal emotions. The portrait of famed photographer Andranik Kochar, by Harutyun Galents, is one of the portraits in Haytayan’s collection that represents a particular aesthetic and historic value. Hakobjan Gharibjanyan’s Portrait of a Woman is another little gem in this portraiture series. Due to this collection (and that of O. Yeghiazariantz, we have the unique opportunity to get acquainted with the 1957 Portrait of a Man, a work of Martin Petrossian’s early Fauvist period, which is not considered typical of the painter in contrast to his well-known cinnamon-grey “graphic” art. Aside from colourful and expressive painting, which is more typical of Armenian arts, a much less known and spatial experimentation of volume (collage, assemblage and object) surfaced in the 1960s and 1970s. The first proponents of this trend were H. Elibekian, the Adalian brothers and others, without whom it would be impossible to depict the entirety of Armenian modernism. As artifacts torn from the fabric of fine arts, the historical value of such works 43
increases according to how early they were produced. This is because in the coming decades they had already received wider distribution. A few relief-collages found their way into Haytayan’s collection. Of these, R. Adalian’s 1968 Still Life and H. Elibekian’s 1975 Still Life with Fish are on display in the exhibition. Concluding this brief review, let us note that only works of Armenian artists are on display in the exhibition. Haytayan’s V. Tarkhov (1871-1930), Russia collection includes Landscape, a rare Yard work by the Russian painter V. Tarkhov 1927 Oil on cardboard - an artist unknown to the Armenian 21x21 cm audience. He is one of those artists The Private Collection of Poghos Haytayan who began his creative journey on the frontlines of the pre-revolutionary tumult. We know that he became friends with Kazimir Malevich and mostly painted landscapes during the Soviet period.
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Works in the Exhibition
Rouben Adalian (b. 1929) Portrait of Poghos Haytayan Sketch for the Canvas “The Battle of Avarayr” 1956 Oil on canvas 47,5x46 cm On Loan from the Private Collection of Poghos Haytayan 46
Rouben Adalian (b. 1929) Portrait of Seda, Artist’s Sister 1960 Oil on canvas 67x54 cm On Loan from the Private Collection of Poghos Haytayan 47
Henry Elibekian (b. 1936) Portrait of Art Historian Poghos Haytayan 1972-1973 Tempera on cardboard 80x58 cm On Loan from the Private Collection of Poghos Haytayan 48
Robert Elibekian (b. 1941) Portrait of Nvard, Daughter of Poghos Haytayan 1991 Oil on canvas 69,3x78,5 cm On Loan from the Private Collection of Poghos Haytayan 49
Vruir Galstian (1924-1996) Portrait of Poghos Haytayan 1980 Oil on canvas 65x65 cm On Loan from the Private Collection of Poghos Haytayan 50
Rouben Adalian (b. 1929) Melancholy 1959 Ink, watercolor, pen on paper 33x24,5 cm On Loan from the Private Collection of Poghos Haytayan 51
Nvard Haytayan (b. 1979) Portrait 1997 Oil on canvas 40x34,5 cm On Loan from the Private Collection of Poghos Haytayan 52
Hakobjan Gharibjanian (1902-1987) Portrait of a Woman 1930s Oil on canvas 32x31 cm On Loan from the Private Collection of Poghos Haytayan 53
Harutyun Galents (1910-1967) Portrait of Photographer Andranik Kochar 1960s Oil on canvas 46x35 cm On Loan from the Private Collection of Poghos Haytayan 54
Martin Petrossian (b. 1933) Portrait of a Man 1957 Oil on cardboard 70x50 cm On Loan from the Private Collection of Poghos Haytayan 55
Henry Elibekian (b. 1936) Still Life with Fish 1975 Collage, mixed media, tempera on cardboard 62,5x74,5 cm On Loan from the Private Collection of Poghos Haytayan 56
Raffi Adalian (b. 1940) Still Life 1968 Oil on paper, tin plate 46x46 cm On Loan from the Private Collection of Poghos Haytayan 57
Ara Haytayan (b. 1965) Still Life 1995 Oil on canvas 90x70 cm On Loan from the Private Collection of Poghos Haytayan 58
Henry Elibekian (b. 1936) Composition 1971 Oil and tempera on cardboard 79x101 cm On Loan from the Private Collection of Poghos Haytayan 59
Raphael Shishmanian (1885-1959) Landscape 1920 -1947 (Parisian Period) Watercolor on cardboard 17,5x23 cm On Loan from the Private Collection of Poghos Haytayan 60
Areg Elibekian (b. 1970) Parisian Motif 2005 Oil on cardboard, canvas 23x30 cm On Loan from the Private Collection of Poghos Haytayan 61
Vagharshak Elibekian (1910-1994) Winter 1981 Tempera on canvas 20x14 cm On Loan from the Private Collection of Poghos Haytayan 62
Yuri Petrosyan (b. 1941) Sitting Knight 1996 Bronze Height: 19 cm On Loan from the Private Collection of Poghos Haytayan 63
Hrant Hovsepyan (b. 1941) Leda 2010 Bronze Height: 11,5 cm On Loan from the Private Collection of Poghos Haytayan 64
Aleksey Papovyan (b. 1941) Metamorphosis N1 1980 Bronze Height: 27 cm On Loan from the Private Collection of Poghos Haytayan 65
Robert Elibekian’s Collection
Collecting is a mindset. In 1960s, a new stratum of urban culture – collectors, was formed in Yerevan. Ervand Kotchar started the beginning of my collection by presenting a small picture painted with a pen. This is how it began. My collection is the continuation of my work. Robert Elibekian
Robert Elibekian: Collection as a Worldview Born - Tbilisi, 1941. Has resided in Yerevan since 1960. 1965 - Graduated from Yerevan Arts and Theatre Institute. 1970 – Became member of Painters Union of Armenia (PUA). 1977 – Named “Meritorious Painter” of Armenia. 1981 – Awarded Soviet Armenia medal. 1987 – Secretary of PUA. 1988 – Member of PUA Board. 2001 – Awarded Movses Khorenatsi Medal. 2004 – Awarded Presidential Medal. 2008 – Named People’s Painter of Armenia. He has participated in numerous local and international exhibitions, including private exhibits, since 1965, and has From right to left: Robert Elibekian, Hovsep Karalyan also worked on scores of theatrical set and Henrik Igityan at Robert Elibekian’s designs. His works are on display at the personal exhibition, Yerevan, 1979 Photograph Courtesy of the Archives of Robert Elibekian National Gallery of Armenia, Moscow’s Tretyakov Gallery and the Eastern Peoples Art Gallery, Detroit’s Alex Manoogian Museum, Élysée Palace (Paris), the United States White House and the New Jersey Zimerli Museum.
Robert Elibekian says that his collection is a reflection of his worldview. These words ring true when standing in the “aura” built by this great art connoisseur, whether at his studio or home. The collection, in addition to the aesthetic, historical and cultural significance, is also a means for the artist and his family to escape the rigors and reality of daily life, and to impart a sense of holiday spirit and beauty to their surroundings. Is this not the same concept that is imbued in both the art critic and, as we shall see later, in most of the art works in his collection? The presentation of R. Elibekian’s collection begins with two urban landscape paintings of Tiflis by his father, Vagharshak Elibekian. Their compositions, 68
with an unusual dynamism of multiplan expanse, are set apart from the characteristic flat extreme solutions of the majority of the artist’s works. In one of the stories preserved in the collection of R. Elibekian, the chronicler of Tiflis life V. Elibekian has painted the members of Tiflis craft unions with their insignias and flags. We see this slice of life in an archival photograph. Standing in the group is Harutyun Elibekian, Vagharshak Elibekian’s father. The works of many Tiflis Armenian artists betray the bouquet Vagharshak Elibekian (1910-1994) of bourgeois Tiflis in the pre-revolutionary The Flagmen of Tiflis Guilds era, in which the new European lustre 1977 Tempera on canvas was combined with Eastern-Caucasian 24x30 cm morals and colors. The destinies of The Private Collection many of these artists were doomed to of Robert Elibekian crumble after the socialist revolution. Overturned by the alien and crude Soviet reality, they continued to live in a parallel existence and built that world which remained in memories, dreams and the subconscious as an apparition. This is true of Vagharshak Elibekian, Aleksander Bajbeuk-Melikian, Hakobjan Gharibjanyan, Hovsep Karalian – representatives of the Tiflis style in R. Elibekian’s collection.1 If we attempt to view the works of the artists, rejecting Soviet reality allegorically/indirectly, from the viewpoint of Bakhtin’s “carnival theory”, then we will note that at its base is a tendency to reverse reality or to give it opposing meanings (ugly-pretty, fakereal, life-death, etc), to see reality with a maimed glance, as if through a veil – to “hide behind a mask”. This is perhaps conventionality or archaism for the naivists but, in the case of H. Gharibjanyan, it’s a metaphysical fragile beauty and mysticism2 that brings forth early renaissance connections; in the case of Al. Bajbeuk-Melikian, an oscillating eroticism and hedonistic rapture. Of course, ritual or theatrical play, as an archetype that was characteristic of traditional 1
The name of Lavinia Bajbeuk-Melikyan, daughter of A. Bajbeuk-Melikyan, has been purposely left out of the Tiflis group since the painter, despite her Tiflis roots, has synthesized mostly traditions belonging to the post-Khrushchev Moscow school of painting. One of her best still life paintings is a choice item in R. Elibekian’s collection.
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That obtained from the H. Gharibjanyan family archive in 2001-2002, the series of abstract minimalist “miniature paintings” found in the collections of R. Elibekian and P. Haytayan, is a rare discovery that bears witness to the experimental, transcendental searches and alienation of this enigmatic artist. 69
Tiflis urban culture (kinto), played a large role in the “carnivalization” of the art of these clandestine rebels. Their art, locked away for so long, was rediscovered and appreciated after the “velvet revolution” of the 1960s. In this, the Yerevan modernists played a significant role, as they supported the return of these works to the fatherland. R. Elibekian was a witness and participant in this internal repatriation. The Tiflis Guilds Heads Meeting, 1903
Photograph Courtesy of the Archives of Robert Elibekian
The collection can be regarded as a transition from the 1960s, full of social-civil pathos and daring design experimentation, (this is represented in the exhibition by the names Minas Avetisyan, Seyran Khatlamajian, Henry Elibekian, Martin Petrossian) to the dreamy 1970s. R. Elibekian is one of the key artists of this transition who carried on the art tradition of Al. Bajbeuk-Melikian. Elibekian made it more conventional, elevating the theme, composition, shapes and environment to the simplicity of a sign, while simultaneously creating a magnificent fireworks of colour and brush work. Such pictorial surface enrichments also have a basis in universal, particularly late Renaissance and Baroque, art traditions. In this light, of interest are three pivotally significant canvases in the exhibition: R. Elibekian’s Melancholy, and the portraits of Mary Haytayan (the artist’s wife) and H. Elibekian’s My Grandma Siranoush. They reflect the conception of portraiture in the work of these two artists in the context of the era. A conception, in which the facial characteristics of a person are abstracted, lost in the swirls and brush strokes of the artist, endowing them with typical characteristics (the painter’s wife becomes the general embodiment of female beauty while his grandmother becomes the bearer of tribal codes) and character mystifications. Thus, fantastic head adornments are very characteristic of the portraits of women of the two Elibekians, as well as wrapping the subjects in magnificent costumes, which is perhaps a reflection of Tiflis high society. In passing, the painting surface sometimes looks like embroidery, an expensive piece of bead weaving or silk, a penchant for “carnivalization” that we tied to the Tiflis wave of Armenian fine arts, which became the general mainstream during the years of stagnation. The irreversible social break was itself giving rise to a disconnected, split consciousness, ordering creative tactics of detachment from the “grand theme”. Are not the widespread and numerous depictions of plays, mysteries, clowns, marionettes, actors and fairies evidence of this? Furthermore, the growth of lyrical and melancholic attitudes was accompanied by a more detailed and
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complex treatment of the painting surface, a beautification, a saturation. One of the many Knights of Varuzhan Vardanyan found in the collection of R. Elibekian is a shining example of this tendency. As we have noted, the Diaspora Armenian stream, alongside the Tiflis tendency, played a major role in the modernization process of Armenian fine arts. Those Armenian artists, who were repatriating, became active players in the local arts scene, bringing with them the traditions of European art schools. Such is the case of Bardough Vardanyan. One of his splendid landscapes is now being exhibited in the collection of R. Elibekian. Others also enriched the horizons of Armenian fine arts with their participation from afar, while at the same time being honoured in the fatherland by Armenian art critics. The exhibition of R. Elibekian’s collection affords us a wonderful opportunity to become acquainted with one charming studies of the French-Armenian classicists, the famous seascape artist A. Chabanian, and one illustration of Carzou, a renowned master of miserablism.
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Works in the Exhibition
Vagharshak Elibekian (1910-1994) Summer Residents 1977 Tempera on canvas 24x30 cm On Loan from the Private Collection of Robert Elibekian 74
Vagharshak Elibekian (1910-1994) Winter 1975 Tempera on canvas 30x40 cm On Loan from the Private Collection of Robert Elibekian 75
Hovsep Karalian (1897-1981) Rural Market 1966 Oil on canvas 19x23,5 cm On Loan from the Private Collection of Robert Elibekian 76
Minas Avetisyan (1928-1975) Portrait of a Woman 1972 Mixed media on paper 27x20 cm On Loan from the Private Collection of Robert Elibekian 77
Hakobjan Gharibjanian (1902-1987) Drapery 1930s Oil on cardboard 25x35 cm On Loan from the Private Collection of Robert Elibekian 78
Hakobjan Gharibjanian (1902-1987) Untitled 1940s Oil on cardboard 14x15,5 cm On Loan from the Private Collection of Robert Elibekian 79
Bardough Vardanian (1897-1987) Old Yerevan 1950 Oil on plywood 30x36 cm On Loan from the Private Collection of Robert Elibekian 80
Seyran Khatlamajian (1937- 1994) Sevan 1967 Oil on canvas 45x67 cm On Loan from the Private Collection of Robert Elibekian 81
Arsene Chabanian (1864-1949) Study Oil on plywood 21,5x30 cm On Loan from the Private Collection of Robert Elibekian 82
Jean Carzou (1907-2000) Red Room 1976 Lithograph, edition 18/36 50x63 cm On Loan from the Private Collection of Robert Elibekian 83
Varujan Vardanyan (1948-2010) The Horseman 1984-1985 Oil on canvas 38,5x32,5 cm On Loan from the Private Collection of Robert Elibekian 84
Varujan Vardanyan (1948-2010) Portrait of Areg Elibekian 1979 Pencil on paper 29x23 cm On Loan from the Private Collection of Robert Elibekian 85
Robert Elibekian (b. 1941) The Portrait of Mary, Artist’s Wife 1988 Oil on canvas 100x81 cm On Loan from the Family Collection of Robert Elibekian 86
Robert Elibekian (b. 1941) Melancholy 1990 Oil on canvas 100x80 cm On Loan from the Family Collection of Robert Elibekian 87
Henry Elibekian (b. 1936) The Portrait of My Grandmother Siranuysh 1984-1992 Oil on canvas 75x55 cm On Loan from the Private Collection of Robert Elibekian 88
Alexander Bajbeuk-Melikian (1891-1966) Kiss 1953 Pencil on paper 11,5x12,5 cm On Loan from the Private Collection of Robert Elibekian 89
Lavinia Bajbeuk-Melikian (1922-2005) Maillol’s Statuette with Mirror 1984-1985 Oil on canvas 82x65 cm On Loan from the Private Collection of Robert Elibekian 90
Ara Harutyunian (1928-1999) Torso 1970s Bronze Height: 48 cm On Loan from the Private Collection of Robert Elibekian 91
Yuri Petrosyan (b. 1941) Model 1993 Bronze Height: 23,5 cm On Loan from the Private Collection of Robert Elibekian 92
Ara Shiraz (b. 1941) The Orphan 1991 Bronze Height: 45 cm On Loan from the Private Collection of Robert Elibekian 93
Works in the Catalog Adalian, Raffi (b. 1940) Still Life, 1968, oil on paper, tin plate, 46x46 cm, on loan from the private collection of Poghos Haytayan Adalian, Rouben (b. 1929) Portrait of Poghos Haytayan, Sketch for the Canvas “The Battle at Avarayr”,1956, oil on canvas, 47,5x46 cm, on loan from the private collection of Poghos Haytayan Portrait of Seda, Artist’s Sister, 1960, oil on canvas, 67x54 cm, on loan from the private collection of poghos haytayan Melancholy, 1959, ink, watercolor, pen on paper, 33x24,5 cm, on loan from the private collection of Poghos Haytayan On Reverse: To my beloved Poghos and Seda with great love and best wishes, 15.08.2009 Avetisyan, Minas (1928-1975) Portrait of a Woman, 1972, paper, mixed media, 27x20 cm, on loan from the private collection of Robert Elibekian Bajbeuk-Melikian, Alexander (1891-1966) Kiss, 1953, pencil on paper, 11,5x12,5 cm, on loan from the private collection of Robert Elibekian Bajbeuk-Melikian, Lavinia (1922-2005) Maillol’s Sculpture with a Mirror, 1984-1985, oil on canvas, 82x65 cm, on loan from the private collection of Robert Elibekian Bajbeuk-Melikian, Vazgen (1941-2004) Holy Virgin, 1989, mixed media, 50x38 cm, on loan from the private collection of Oshin Yeghiazariantz Christ, 1990, oil on wood, 25x18 cm, on loan from the private collection of Oshin Yeghiazariantz Self-portrait, 2000, mixed media, 117x101 cm, on loan from the private collection of Oshin Yeghiazariantz Bajbeuk-Melikian, Zuleyka (b. 1939) Moonlight, 2001-2002, oil on canvas, 81x104 cm, on loan from the private collection of Oshin Yeghiazariantz 94
Carzou, Jean (1907-2000) Red Room, 1976, lithograph, edition 18/36, 50x63 cm, on loan from the private collection of Robert Elibekian Chabanian, Arsene (1864-1949) Study, oil on plywood, 21,5x30 cm, on loan from the private collection of Robert Elibekian Chahine, Edgar (1874-1947) Mother and Child, etching, 32x22 cm, on loan from the private collection of Oshin Yeghiazariantz Elibekian, Areg (b. 1970) Parisian Motif, 2005, oil on cardboard, canvas, 23x30 cm, on loan from the private collection of Poghos Haytayan Elibekian, Henry (b. 1936) Portrait of Art Historian Poghos Haytayan, 1972-1973, tempera on cardboard, 80x58 cm, on loan from the private collection of Poghos Haytayan Still Life with Fish, 1975, collage, mixed media, tempera on cardboard, 62,5x74,5 cm, on loan from the private collection of Poghos Haytayan Composition, 1971, oil and tempera on cardboard, 79x101 cm, on loan from the private collection of Poghos Haytayan The Nude, 1997, watercolor on paper, 52x75 cm, on loan from the private collection of Oshin Yeghiazariantz The Portrait of My Grandmother Siranuysh, 1984-1992, oil on canvas, 75x55 cm, on loan from the private collection of Robert Elibekian Elibekian, Robert (b. 1941) Portrait of Mary, Artist’s Wife, 1988, oil on canvas, 100x81 cm, on loan from the family collection of Robert Elibekian Melancholy, 1990, oil on canvas, 100x80 cm, on loan from the family collection of Robert Elibekian Portrait of Nvard, Daughter of Poghos Haytayan, 1991, oil on canvas, 69,3x78,5 cm, on loan from the private collection of Poghos Haytayan Elibekian, Vagharshak (1910-1994) Summer Residents, 1977, tempera on canvas, 24x30 cm, on loan from the private collection of Robert Elibekian The Flagmen of Tiflis Guilds, 1977, tempera on canvas, 24x30 cm, the private collection of Robert Elibekian Winter, 1975, tempera on canvas, 30x40 cm, on loan from the private collection of Robert Elibekian Winter, 1981, tempera on canvas, 20x14 cm, on loan from the private collection of Poghos Haytayan 95
Galents, Harutyun (1910-1967) Portrait of Photographer Andranik Kochar, 1960s, oil on canvas, 46x35 cm, on loan from the private collection of Poghos Haytayan Galstian, Vruir (1924-1996) Portrait of Poghos Haytayan, 1980, oil on canvas, 65x65 cm, on loan from the private collection of Poghos Haytayan On reverse: To my dear friend Poghos from Vruyr, 1980, Yerevan Gharibjanian, Hakobjan (1902-1987) Portrait of a Woman, 1930s, oil on canvas, 32x31 cm, on loan from the private collection of Poghos Haytayan Drapery, 1930s, oil on cardboard, 25x35 cm, on loan from the private collection of Robert Elibekian Untitled, 1940s, oil on cardboard, 14x15,5 cm, on loan from the private collection of Robert Elibekian Grigorian, Gevorg (Giotto) (1897-1976) Portrait of a Man, 1962, oil on canvas, 65x54 cm, on loan from the private collection of Oshin Yeghiazariantz Gyurjian, Hakob (1881-1948) Seated Figure, 1915, bronze, height: 20 cm, on loan from the private collection of Oshin Yeghiazariantz Statuette of a Woman, circa 1915, bronze, height: 26 cm, on loan from the private collection of Oshin Yeghiazariantz Harutyunyan, Ara (1928-1999) Torso, 1970s, bronze, height: 48 cm, on loan from the private collection of Robert Elibekian Haytayan, Ara (b. 1965) Still life, 1995, oil on canvas, 90x70 cm, on loan from the private collection of Poghos Haytayan Haytayan, Nvard (b. 1979) Portrait, 1997, oil on cardboard, 40x34,5 cm, on loan from the private collection of Poghos Haytayan Hovhannisyan, Ashot (1929-1997) Self-portrait, 1993, oil on canvas, 70x51 cm, on loan from the private collection of Oshin Yeghiazariantz Hovnatanian, Hakob (1806-1881) Portrait of a Man, oil on canvas, 28x24 cm, on loan from the private collection of Oshin Yeghiazariantz 96
Hovsepyan, Hrant (b. 1941) Leda, 2010, bronze, height: 11,5 cm, on loan from the private collection of Poghos Haytayan Karalian, Hovsep (1897-1981) Rural Market, 1966, oil on canvas, 19x23,5 cm, on loan from the private collection of Robert Elibekian Kharazian, Edward (b. 1939) Composition, 1991, oil on canvas, 54x65 cm, on loan from the private collection of Oshin Yeghiazariantz Khatlamajian, Seyran (1937-1994) Sevan, 1967, Oil on canvas, 45x67 cm, on loan from the private collection of Robert Elibekian Abstract Composition, 1978, oil on canvas, 66x74 cm, on loan from the private collection of Oshin Yeghiazariantz Kotchar, Ervand (1899-1979) Anahit, 1926, oil on canvas, 17,8x15 cm, on loan from the private collection of Oshin Yeghiazariantz Untitled, 1926, pencil on paper, 18x14 cm, on loan from the private collection of Oshin Yeghiazariantz Papovyan, Alexey (b. 1941) Metamorphose N1, 1980, bronze, height: 27 cm, on loan from the private collection of Poghos Haytayan Petrossian, Martin (b. 1933) Portrait of a Man, 1957, oil on cardboard, 70x50 cm, on loan from the private collection of Poghos Haytayan Landscape, 1979, oil on canvas, 65x40 cm, on loan from the private collection of Oshin Yeghiazariantz Couple, 1960s, oil on canvas, 97x72 cm, on loan from the private collection of Oshin Yeghiazariantz Petrosyan, Yuri (b. 1941) Model, 1993, bronze, height: 23,5 cm, on loan from the private collection of Robert Elibekian Sitting Knight, 1996, bronze, height: 19 cm, on loan from the private collection of Poghos Haytayan Shiraz, Ara (b. 1941) The Orphan, 1991, bronze, height: 45 cm, on loan from the private collection of Robert Elibekian
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Shishmanian, Raphael (1885-1959) Landscape, 1920-1947 (parisian period), watercolor on cardboard, 17,5x23 cm, on loan from the private collection of Poghos Haytayan Tadevossian, Yeghishe (1870-1936) Landscape with Figures, oil on canvas, 16x70 cm, on loan from the private collection of Oshin Yeghiazariantz Tarkhov, V. (1871-1930) Yard, 1927, oil on cardboard, 21x21 cm, the private collection of Poghos Haytayan Vardanyan, Bardough (1897-1987) Old Yerevan, 1950, oil on plywood, 30x36 cm, on loan from the private collection of Robert Elibekian On reverse: I present this moderate work to Mrs. Mary as a sign of respect. Vardanyan Bardough-1979 Vardanyan, Varujan (1948-2010) The Horseman, 1984-1985, oil on canvas, 38,5x32,5 cm, on loan from the private collection of Robert Elibekian Portrait of Areg Elibekian, 1979, pencil on paper, 29x23 cm, on loan from the private collection of Robert Elibekian
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