Architectural Commission of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin (1970-1988). First row from left: Varazdat Harutyunyan, Vazgen I, K. Altunyan Second row from left: Baghdasar Arzoumanian, H. Babakhanian, Grigor Khanjyan, A. Galikyan, M. Hovhannisyan.
Grigor Khanjyan was a Soviet-Armenian painter and illustrator. He was a representative of the style of Expressionism. He created a great number of illustrations for historical novels and poems, as well as murals and tapestries on historical topics.
Background
Khanjyan was born on November 29, 1926 in Yerevan, Armenia. Grigor Khanjyan was the son of Sebuh and Verginie Khanjyan. His parents were genocide survivors from Yerznka, who moved to Armenia in 1920.
Grigor Khanjyan has mentioned on several occasions that a doctor had advised his mother, who was already in fairly advanced age, to get pregnant in order to avoid some health problems. That was the reason for the artist to be conceived.
After Sovietization of Armenia, Khanjyan's father had to leave his profession and work as an accountant. Grigor Khanjyan was the fourth and last child in the family. His elder brother became a musician.
Education
Panos Terlemezian, a friend of Grigor Khanjyan's father, was the first person to discover the artistic talent of young Grigor. In 1945 Grigor Khanjyan completed his studies at Yerevan state college of Fine Arts named after Panos Terlemezian.
At the age of 19, together with fellow painters Levon Manaseryan and Van Khachatur, Khanjyan entered the State Academy of Fine Arts of Armenia, Yerevan. At the Academy, he studied particularly under the supervision of the prolific thematic-compositional artist Eduard Isabekyan. His influence was strong on the style of Khanjyan's works in the early years. Khanjyan graduated from the Academy in 1951.
Khanjyan started his creative career in 1915. He was engaged both in painting and graphics, as he created Parisian, Italian, Spanish, Mexican series. Grigor Khanjyan illustrated a number of pieces of the classic literature, including H.Toumanin’s poem "Sakko from Lori", "Davit of Sassun", Kh. Abovian’s romance "Wounds of Armenia", P. Sevak’s and G. Emin’s poems "The unceasing belfry" and "The Sassoun Dance".
In 1966 the artist joined the supreme spiritual council of the Armenian Apostolic Church and became friends with the Catolicos Vazgen I. He created large-scale tapestries for the church; they depicted episodes from Armenian history - Battle of Avarayr and Creation of Armenian Alphabet. Because of the fact that the tapestries were held in the Patriarchate buildings, where the common Soviet people were not allowed to enter, Grigor Khanjyan was asked by Karen Demirchyan, then the head of Armenian Communist Party, to reproduce the artworks as murals at the newly finished Yerevan Arena for Sport and Music (Hamalir). Instead, the artist executed the second largest in the Soviet Union theatrical curtain, Mother Armenia, for Hamalir.
Following the advice of his friend, architect Jim Torosyan, Khanjyan created the murals at the Yerevan Cascade (now Cafesjian Museum of Art). Later, he added a third part, Rebirth of Armenia, to make the murals in a form of a triptych. Thus, Rebirth of Armenia was to conclude the triptych History of Armenia with the greatest figures of 20th century Armenia on it. However, the artist had died before the work was finished.
Over the course of his artistic career, he held plenty of solo exhibitions: exhibitions in Yerevan in 1959, 1965 and 1981; in 1990 in the United States (Michigan, California, New Jersey); in 2006 the exhibition dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the artist (National Gallery of Armenia, Yerevan), etc.
Illustration to the poem Gevorg Emin's "Sasun Dance"
painting
Rome
Vardananq
In the cafe
Did they teach you that in school
Bread, love and dream
Sunflowers
The scene of Karo's murder
Girocaster. Albania
In the painter's studio
Vorskhan
Capture of Khan Aslan
Death of Aghasi's Father
Aghasi
Tortured Armenians
Still life, flowers
Anahit
In the mountains
Italian Still Life
Still life with sunflower
Defence of Sardarabad
In Rodeev park
Monetary. My colleague
Early in the morning
Politics
Grigor Khanjyan never supported the Communist Party, though it was highly expected from those who wanted to become successful in the Soviet Union. He was a devoted Nationalist and proved it frequently with his art. For instance, for his graduate work he chose the topic of 1907 Communist Congress in London, but instead of picturing Joseph Stalin, as expected, he painted Stepan Shahumyan, ethnic Armenian, next to Lenin.
Membership
Grigor Khanjyan was elected a corresponding member of Academy of Arts of the USSR in 1963, becoming a full member in 1973. Khanjyan joined the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia in 1990, becoming a full member (receiving the title "Academician") in the field of Art History.
Academy of Arts of the USSR
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Soviet Union
1963
National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia
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Armenia