Martiros Saryan ( hy, Մարտիրոս Սարյան; russian: Мартиро́с Сарья́н; – 5 May 1972) was a Soviet Armenian

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ...

, the founder of a modern Armenian national school of painting.

Biography

He was born into an Armenian family in Nakhichevan-on-Don (now part of

Rostov-on-Don Rostov-on-Don ( rus, Ростов-на-Дону, r=Rostov-na-Donu, p=rɐˈstof nə dɐˈnu) is a port city and the administrative centre of Rostov Oblast and the Southern Federal District of Russia. It lies in the southeastern part of the Eas ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...

). In 1895 at the age of 15, he completed the Nakhichevan school and from 1897 to 1904 studied at the Moscow School of Arts, including in the workshops of

Valentin Serov Valentin Alexandrovich Serov (russian: Валенти́н Алекса́ндрович Серо́в; 19 January 1865 – 5 December 1911) was a Russian painter and one of the premier portrait artists of his era. Life and work Youth and educ ...

and Konstantin Korovin. He was heavily influenced by the work of

Paul Gauguin Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin (, ; ; 7 June 1848 – 8 May 1903) was a French Post-Impressionist artist. Unappreciated until after his death, Gauguin is now recognized for his experimental use of colour and Synthetist style that were distinct fr ...

and

Henri Matisse Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (; 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a draughtsman, printmaker, and sculptor, but is known prim ...

. He exhibited his works in various shows. He had works shown at the Blue Rose Exhibit in Moscow. House-where-Martiros-Sarian-lived

He first visited

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''O ...

, then part of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War ...

, in 1901, visiting Lori, Shirak, Echmiadzin, Haghpat, Sanahin,

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 ...

and Sevan. He composed his first landscapes depicting Armenia: ''

Makravank Makravank ( hy, Մաքրավանք) is an Armenian church-complex located in the Makravan district of Hrazdan, the capital of Kotayk Province, Armenia. Hasratyan, Murad. ''Մաքրավանք'' (Mak'ravank'). Armenian Soviet Encyclopedia. vol. vi ...

'', 1902; ''Aragats'', 1902; ''Buffalo. Sevan'', 1903; ''Evening in the Garden'', 1903; ''In the Armenian village'', 1903, etc., which were highly praised in the Moscow press. From 1910 to 1913 he traveled extensively in

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

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 ...

and

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

. In 1915, he went to

Echmiadzin Vagharshapat ( hy, Վաղարշապատ ) is the 4th-largest city in Armenia and the most populous municipal community of Armavir Province, located about west of the capital Yerevan, and north of the closed Turkish-Armenian border. It is comm ...

to help refugees who had fled from the

Armenian genocide The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenian people and identity in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Spearheaded by the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), it was implemented primarily through t ...

in the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

. In 1916, he traveled to Tiflis (now

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Kura River with a population of approximately 1.5 million p ...

) where he married Lusik Agayan. It was there that he helped organise the Society of Armenian Artists. 20,000 Armenian dram - 1999 (obverse)

Following the

Bolshevik The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...

seizure of power in 1917, he went with his family to live in

. In 1921, they moved to

. While most of his work reflected the Armenian landscape, he also designed the coat of arms for the Armenian SSR and designed the curtain for the first Armenian state theatre. He also made a proposal for the flag of this independent Armenia based on the colours and designs of traditional Armenian fabrics and carpets, although his design was rejected. From 1926 to 1928 he lived and worked in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

, but most works from this period were destroyed in a fire on board the boat on which he returned to the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

. From 1928 until his death, Saryan lived in Soviet Armenia. In the difficult years of the 1930s, he mainly devoted himself again to landscape painting, as well as portraits. He also was chosen as a deputy to the USSR Supreme Soviet and was awarded the

Order of Lenin The Order of Lenin (russian: Орден Ленина, Orden Lenina, ), named after the leader of the Russian October Revolution, was established by the Central Executive Committee on April 6, 1930. The order was the highest civilian decoration ...

three times and other awards and medals. He was a member of the USSR Art Academy (1974) and

Armenian Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia (NAS RA) ( hy, Հայաստանի Հանրապետության գիտությունների ազգային ակադեմիա, ՀՀ ԳԱԱ, ''Hayastani Hanrapetut’yan gitut’yunneri az ...

(1956). Saryan died in

on 5 May 1972. His former home in Yerevan is now a museum dedicated to his work with hundreds of items on display. He was buried in Yerevan at the Pantheon next to Komitas Vardapet.Saryan's memorial tombstone at Komitas Pantheon
/ref> His son Ghazaros (Lazarus) Saryan was a composer and educator. His great-granddaughter Mariam Petrosyan is also a painter, as well as a cartoonist and award-winning novelist.

Gallery

File:By the Well. Hot Day, 1908.jpg, ''By the Well. Hot Day'' (1908) File:Египетские маски.jpeg, ''Egyptian masks,'' (1911) File:Martiros Sarian Paintings 2005 Postal Card.jpg, Post Card File:By the Sea. Sphinx.jpg, ''By the Sea. Sphinx'' (1908) File:Summer Heat - Running Dog, 1909.jpg, 'Running Dog.' (1909) File:Идущая женщина.jpeg File:5,000 Armenian dram - 1999 (reverse).png, The reverse of the 1999 5000 Dram banknote bears a Lori landscape painting by Saryan File:20,000 Armenian dram - 1999 (reverse).png, The reverse of the 1999 20000 Dram banknote shows Saryan's ''Armenia'' painting File:Saryan OldYerevan.jpg, Painting Old Yerevan, 1928 by Saryan on Soviet stamp of 1980

References

External links

Martiros Sarian House-Museum

About Martiros Sarian House-Museum

M. Saryan: Biography, Gallery

M. Saryan in ''The Color of Armenian Land''

Saryan, Minas, Parajanov
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saryan, Martiros 1880 births 1972 deaths 20th-century Armenian painters 20th-century Russian painters Armenian portrait painters Armenian still life painters Burials at the Komitas Pantheon Full Members of the USSR Academy of Arts Heroes of Socialist Labour Orientalist painters Artists from Rostov-on-Don People's Artists of the USSR (visual arts) Russian people of Armenian descent Russian male painters Ethnic Armenian painters Russian portrait painters Soviet painters 20th-century Russian male artists