Arto Tchakmakchian ( hy, Արտո Չաքմաքչյան, (26 June 1933 – 1 October 2019) was a Canadian-Armenian sculptor and painter, a member of the

Royal Canadian Academy of Arts The Royal Canadian Academy of Arts (RCA) is a Canadian arts-related organization that was founded in 1880. History 1880 to 1890 The title of Royal Canadian Academy of Arts was received from Queen Victoria on 16 July 1880. The Governor General ...

. He was awarded by the Armenian Order of Honor in 2015.

Biography

Arto (Harutyun) Tchakmakchian's father was a bookshop owner and a friend of

Vahan Malezian Vahan Malezian ( hy, Վահան Մալեզեան, in Sulina, Romania - 1966 in Nice, France) was an Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the ...

. Arto was born in

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the Capital city, capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, List of ...

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

in 1933 and studied at Nubarian National College in Heliopolis, then in 1946 his family repatriated to

Yerevan Yerevan ( , , hy, Երևան , sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia and one of the world's oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerevan is the administrative, cultural, and i ...

. He began his professional studies at the age of 15 at the Art School of Panos Terlemezian. In 1962 he won first prize at the International Contemporary Ceramics Exhibition in Prague for his sculpture ''Reclining Figure". Won first prize for his composition "Monument to the Victims of Hiroshima'' in a competition organized by Moscow Peace Committee. The work was given by the

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

to the City of Hiroshima in 1964. In 1969 he was recipient of the Armenian Youth Union golden medal for his works ''Mother'' and ''Arno Babajanyan'' which were purchased by the State Tretiakov Gallery in Moscow. The same year Tchakmakchian appeared in

Mikhail Vartanov Mikhail Vartanov (russian: Михаил Вартанов, links=no, hy, Միքայել Վարդանով, links=no, french: Mikhaïl Vartanov, links=no; b. February 21, 1937, RSFSR, Soviet Union, now Russian Federation, d. December 31, 2009, Holl ...

's suppressed film ''The Color of Armenian Land'' along with

Sergei Parajanov Sergei Parajanov, ka, სერგო ფარაჯანოვი, uk, Сергій Параджанов (January 9, 1924 – July 20, 1990) was an Armenian filmmaker. Parajanov is regarded by film critics, film historians and filmmakers t ...

(imprisoned in 1973) and Minas Avetisyan (assassinated in 1975). Since 1964 academic

Artem Alikhanian Artyom Isaakovich Alikhanian ( hy, Արտեմ Ալիխանյան, russian: Артём Исаакович Алиханьян, 24 June 1908 – 25 February 1978) was a Soviet and Armenian physicist, one of the founders and first director of the Yer ...

became one of the main supporters of Tchakmaktchian's art. In 1972 Joseph Brodsky while in Yerevan visited his studio. In 1984 Tchakmaktchian won First Prize in the Wilfrid Pelletier Competition in Montreal for his bust of the competition's namesake. The work is on permanent display in the entrance hall of

Place des Arts Place may refer to: Geography * Place (United States Census Bureau), defined as any concentration of population ** Census-designated place, a populated area lacking its own municipal government * "Place", a type of street or road name ** Often ...

in Montreal. His works have also been exhibited at notable museums internationally, notably in the

Louvre Museum The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...

. A notable exhibition was held at

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

Headquarters in Paris in 2010.

Awards

Arto Tchakmakchian's awards and acknowledgements included: * 2004 "Order of Movses Khorenatsi", Armenia * 2009 "Letter of Recognition" by the Minister of Culture, Communications and Feminine Condition of

Quebec Government Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirteen ...

* 2009 Medal of "Naregatsi" by the University of California in Los Angeles * 2015 Order of Honor, ArmeniaArto Tchakmakchian: Rebirth, CMF
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Gallery

Image:Armenian sphinx.JPG, Armenian sphinx (Arus), Yerevan, 1963 Image:Armeniastatue, detroit.jpg, Statue of Gomidas Vartabed, Detroit, MI

References

External links

*
Parajanov-Vartanov Institute

Tchakmakchian
in

's film ''The Color of Armenian Land'' 1933 births 2019 deaths Artists from Yerevan Armenian painters 20th-century Canadian painters Canadian male painters 21st-century Canadian painters Egyptian people of Armenian descent Canadian people of Armenian descent Members of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts 20th-century Canadian sculptors Egyptian emigrants to the Soviet Union Soviet emigrants to Canada 20th-century Canadian male artists 21st-century Canadian male artists {{Canada-sculptor-stub