ATAYAN, ARMEN (1922-2021)

"Girl In Red" (1965)
oil on board
57 x 37cm
signed lower right
*Christie's London, "Russian Paintings", 2000
*private collection, Sydney
 
Atayan was a respected Armenian-Russian artist. He was born in Yerevan. His mother was a teacher of Armenian Language,and his father Arshak Atayan, a famous scholar, poet, teacher, and writer who translated the famous “Rubaiyat” of Omar Khayyam into many different languages. In 1937 his father got arrested (victim of Stalin repressions) and it became very difficult for the family to survive. Armen, sixteen years old at the time, performed with several orchestras to earn a living for the family. In 1941 he was among the first who volunteered to go to fight against Fascism.
 
Atayan studied at the Yerevan Institute of Fine Arts. Earlier he was a student of the Art College after Terlemezian. While studying he was fortunate to have Alexander Osmyerkin as his mentor for a short period of time. He later lectured in the same Institute.He also studied at the Yerevan Art and Theatre Institute (1952) under Armenian National Treasure, Martiros Saryan.
 
He had numerous personal exhibitions in Ukraine and Armenia from 1952 and was a member of the Artists Union of the USSR. From 1954 – 1965 he lived and worked in Kiev, where in 1963 he held his first solo exhibition. He worked hard, participated, curated and organized several individual exhibitions. Upon his return to the Motherland, Atayan continued working non-stop.