Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Naghash Hakob Hovnatanian (1692-1757)

Naghash Hakob Hovnatanian was a son and student of Hovnatan Nagash, was born in Yerevan, from 1710 lived in Tiflis. Together with his father ( Hovnatan Nagash )and brother (Harutyun Hovnatanian (1706 -?)  painted a Cathedral in Echmiadzin and a few churches in Yerevan.He was also a miniaturist which was tradition for his family.




Sources 
"Popular Art Encyclopedia" 2nd book, publishing house "Soviet Encyclopedia", 1986 
M. Kazarian "Artists Hovnatanian" Moscow, 1969

Thursday, July 26, 2012

Treasures from the Matenadaran Museum

Portraits of the four Evangelists from the Gospels by Melk'isedek, Berkri, north-eastern shore of Lake Van, 1338. Matenadaran, Erevan, ms. 4813, f.5v. 2
The Holy Women at the Empty Tomb with the Risen Christ, from the Gospels by the artist Ewagris, Taron, 1038. Matenadaran, Erevan, ms. 6201

The Washing of the Feet, the Last Supper, the Betrayal by Judas, Peter cutting the servant's car and denving Christ to the servant girl. From the Gospels by Rstakes, Khizan, 1397. Matenadaran, Erevan, ms. 7629, f. 267. 37.Illuminated. by. Rstakes,. 1397. Paper; 267 fols. Script bolorgir in double cols; 27.5 x 18.5 cm Provenance: In the scribal colophon (fol. 265v) the scribe and artist Rstakes states that he copied the manuscript from a choice choice and reliable copy
Etchmiadzin Gospel, manuscript," 989, Dimension is 35x28 cm, M2374.The unique remnant of Armenian miniature painting from the period before the Arab occupation consists of two folios bearing four full-page miniatures called today the "Final Miniatures" of the Etchmiadzin Gospels because they were bound in at the end of the latter codex executed
Gospel,Artist Toros Roslin, Cilicia, XIIIth century, Annunciation. Erevan, Matenadaran, MS 9422
Portraits of Mekhitar Heratsi and Catholicos Nerses Shnorhali (MS. 7046). Mekhitar Heratsi was a 12th century priest and physician who wrote an encyclopedia on medicine. In Consolation of Fevers, Heratsi introduced the theory of mold [mucus, phlegm] as a cause of infections and allergic diseases, and suggested that diseases could penetrate into the body from the outer world. Heratsi wrote works about anatomy, biology, general pathology, pharmacology, ophthalmology, and curative properties of stones.

Sources
The Bible in the Armenian Tradition by: Vrej Nersessian
http://armenianstudies.csufresno.edu
Matenadaran.Am

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Hovhannes Rustemian (Jan Rustem 1762--1835)

Jan Rustem was a Polish portrait painter of Armenian descent(1), a professor at the Vilnius University.

Self-Portrait of Hovhannes Rustemian

He came to Poland as a ten year old orphan at the invitation of General Adam Kazimierz Czartoryski. He studied painting in Warsaw with Jean-Pierre de la Norblin Gourdaine, Marcello Bacciarelli later. 1788 to 1790 he spent in Germany, where he was accepted into a Masonic Lodge.  

Portrait of Krystyna Frank

Then he came to Lithuania in 1794 to Warsaw, in 1798 he settled permanently in Lithuania, a few years ago part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.He became an assistant at the Department of Franciszek Smuglewicz painting of the Vilnius University. In 1811 he was associate professor of drawing, painting in 1819 for, in 1821 he was appointed full professor.

Portrait of Maria Mirska and Barbara

He dealt mainly with portraiture, created numerous self portraits. He also painted landscapes, mythological and historical scenes, designed sets and costumes for the theater Vilna.


 
Sources 
(1)Nineteenth century Polish painting by Agnieszka Morawińska, Muzeum Narodowe w Warszawie, Barbara Brus-Malinowska

Encyclopedia Lituanica , Volume 6
Stefania Krzysztofowicz-Kozakowska: Malarstwo Polskie w zbiorach za granicą, (Polnische Malerei in ausländischen Sammlungen), Wydawnictwo Kluszczyński, 2003

Ervand Kochar (1899–1979)

Ervand Kochar was a likeable and many-sided personality, equally talented as a painter and as a sculptor. His equestrian statue of the legendary Armenian hero David of Sassoun rears up in front of Yerevan railway station.

An immensely gifted artist, he had lived and worked in Paris from 1923 until 1936 but then, although highly successful  there, he returned to Soviet Armenia. After his return he was accused of the Soviet crime of formalism and suffered periods of imprisonment.

Sources
The Armenians:a people in exile by David Marshall Lang
Armenia with Nagorno Karabagh by By Nicholas Holding, Deirdre Holding

Sunday, July 22, 2012

Sergey Merkurov (1881-1952)

Sergiy Merkurov was a major Armenian-Soviet sculptor.Also, Sergei Merkurov was a member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts, People's Artist of the Council of the Republic , and from 1944 until 1949 Pushkin literary arts in the museum's director. Merkurovi especially appreciated the Soviet era the greatest sculptor.


In 1984 his family opened the house Merkurov Museum, with displays of fifty-nine Merkurovin's mask, famous personalities and leaders of the Council, among them Lenin. Merkurovin issuing at two multiplied by the mask, one of which he himself saved. The museum is located Gjumrissa, Armenia.