Panos Terlemezian ( hy, Փանոս Թերլեմեզյան; 11 March 1865, Van - 30 April 1941,

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

) was an Armenian landscape and portrait painter; known for his support of Armenian nationalist causes.

Biography

His love for painting expressed itself while he was still in elementary school. From 1881 to 1885, he studied at the private college operated by

Mekertich Portukalian Mekertich Portukalian ( hy, Մկրտիչ Փորթուգալեան; October 21, 1848 – October 1921) was an Armenian teacher and journalist who founded the first Armenian political party, the Armenakan Party, in Van in 1885. The son of a banke ...

, who inspired him to become one of the first members of his

Armenakan Party The Armenakan Party (in Armenian Արմենական Կուսակցութիւն) was an Armenian political party established in Van, Ottoman Empire in 1885 by Mekertich Portukalian as an underground organization against the ruling system. It is ...

. Then, for four years, he taught drawing and several other subjects in Van. In 1890, he was arrested and accused of belonging to a group that opposed the

Ottoman government The Ottoman Empire developed over the years as a despotism with the Sultan as the supreme ruler of a centralized government that had an effective control of its provinces, officials and inhabitants. Wealth and rank could be inherited but were j ...

, but was released after six months for lack of evidence. After that, his involvement in

Armenian nationalism Armenian nationalism in the modern period has its roots in the romantic nationalism of Mikayel Chamchian (1738–1823) and generally defined as the creation of a free, independent and united Armenia formulated as the Armenian Cause ( hy, Հայ ...

increased and, in 1893, he was forced to flee to Iran. From there, he made his way to

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the Capital city, capital and the List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia (country), Georgia, lying on the ...

, where he lived until 1895, working first for a printing office, then for the Armenian language newspaper, ''

Mshak ''Mshak'' ( hy, Մշակ meaning ''The Toiler'') was an Armenian language literary and political daily newspaper ( weekly when established) published from 1872–1920 in Tiflis, Russian Empire (now Tbilisi, Georgia). It was founded by Grigor Artsr ...

''. After that, he went to

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

, where he worked in the studios of and took art lessons, with financial support from

Mkrtich Khrimian Mkrtich Khrimian or ''Mıgırdıç Kırımyan'' ( classical hy, Մկրտիչ Խրիմեան, reformed: Մկրտիչ Խրիմյան; 4 April 182029 October 1907) was an Armenian Apostolic Church leader, educator, and publisher who served as Cat ...

. In 1897, he went to

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

to work with some friends. There, at the request of the Ottoman government, he was arrested and detained. Eventually, he was extradited and imprisoned in Yerevan. The following year, he was secretly exiled to Iran. Shortly after, he managed to elude his guardians and made his way to Paris; continuing his studies at the

Académie Julian The Académie Julian () was a private art school for painting and sculpture founded in Paris, France, in 1867 by French painter and teacher Rodolphe Julian (1839–1907) that was active from 1868 through 1968. It remained famous for the number a ...

with

Jean-Paul Laurens Jean-Paul Laurens (; 28 March 1838 – 23 March 1921) was a French painter and sculptor, and one of the last major exponents of the French Academic style. Biography Laurens was born in Fourquevaux and was a pupil of Léon Cogniet and Alexand ...

and

Jean-Joseph Benjamin-Constant Jean-Joseph Benjamin-Constant (also known as Benjamin-Constant), born Jean-Joseph Constant (10 June 1845 – 26 May 1902), was a French painter and etcher best known for his Oriental subjects and portraits. Biography Benjamin-Constant was bor ...

. He graduated in 1904 and returned to his home region, once again settling in Tbilisi, where he taught at the

Nersisian School Nersisian School ( hy, Ներսիսեան դպրոց, ''Nersisian Dprots''; ka, ნერსისიანის სემინარია, ; russian: Нерсесяновское училище, translit=Nersisyanovskoye učilišče) was an A ...

. He made an extensive tour of North Africa in 1908, and returned to Paris, where he stayed until 1910. That year, he went to

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

, where he became acquainted with

Komitas Soghomon Soghomonian, ordained and commonly known as Komitas, ( hy, Կոմիտաս; 22 October 1935) was an Armenian priest, musicologist, composer, arranger, singer, and choirmaster, who is considered the founder of the Armenian national scho ...

Daniel Varoujan Daniel Varoujan ( hy, Դանիէլ Վարուժան, 20 April 188426 August 1915) was an Armenian poet of the early 20th century. At the age of 31, when he was reaching international stature, he was deported and murdered by the Young Turk gov ...

Siamanto Atom Yarchanian ( hy, Ատոմ Եարճանեան), better known by his pen name Siamanto (Սիամանթօ) (15 August 1878 – August 1915), was an influential Armenian writer, poet and national figure from the late 19th century and early 20th ...

Yervant Odian Yervant Odian ( hy, Երուանդ Օտեան or Երվանդ Օտյան; 19 September 1869 – 1926) was an Ottoman Armenian satirist, journalist and playwright. He is regarded as one of the most influential Armenian satirists, along with his ...

and many other Armenian cultural figures. Together with , he opened a painting school. He held his first solo exhibition in 1913. In 1915, he was one of the organizers of the Defense of Van, a city where thousands of villagers had sought refuge from the

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

. When their defense failed, he accompanied the refugees who had managed to escape and, once again, found himself living in Tbilisi. The following year, he was one of the founding members of the Union of Armenian Artists and established its branch in

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 East Eu ...

. From 1920 to 1923, he spent much of his time in France and Italy. He then went to the United States; painting portraits in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and, especially,

Fresno Fresno () is a major city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley region. It covers about and had a population of 542,107 in 2020, maki ...

, a city with a large number of Armenian emigrants, where he held major solo exhibitions in 1925 and 1926. At the invitation of the

Transcaucasian SFSR , conventional_long_name = Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic , common_name = Transcaucasian SFSR , p1 = Armenian Soviet Socialist RepublicArmenian SSR , flag_p1 = Flag of SSRA ...

, he returned home in 1928 and settled in Yerevan; presenting a solo exhibition at the

National Gallery of Armenia The National Gallery of Armenia ( hy, Հայաստանի ազգային պատկերասրահ, ''Hayastani azgayin patkerasrah'') is the largest art museum in Armenia. Located on Yerevan's Republic Square, the museum has one of the most prominent ...

in 1929.The following year, he was awarded the

Order of the Red Banner of Labor The Order of the Red Banner of Labour (russian: Орден Трудового Красного Знамени, translit=Orden Trudovogo Krasnogo Znameni) was an order of the Soviet Union established to honour great deeds and services to th ...

. He became a member of the

Artists' Union of the USSR The Artists' Union of the USSR (russian: Союз художников СССР, translit=Soyuz khudozhnikov SSSR) was a creative union of the Soviet artists and art critics embracing the Republics of the Soviet Union, Republics of the Soviet Union ...

upon its founding, in 1932. After his death, the government of the

Armenian SSR The Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic,; russian: Армянская Советская Социалистическая Республика, translit=Armyanskaya Sovetskaya Sotsialisticheskaya Respublika) also commonly referred to as Soviet A ...

renamed the in his honor. In 2015, the National Gallery held a major retrospective of his works to celebrate the 150th anniversary of his birth.

References

Sources

"Panos Terlemezyan - jubilee exhibition"
@ the National Academy of Sciences

@ the Terlemezyan State College of Fine Arts
Brief biography
@ ''Maslovka''
"This Week in Armenian History: Death of Panos Terlemezian"
@ Milwaukee Armenians

External links

"Panos Terlemezyan-150th anniversary exhibition"
@ the

"Memories of My Life"
by Panos Terlemezian; presentation @ the

Armenian State Pedagogical University Khachatur Abovian Armenian State Pedagogical University (ASPU) ( hy, Խաչատուր Աբովյանի անվան հայկական պետական մանկավարժական համալսարան, ՀՊՄՀ), is a state university and higher educa ...

More works by Terlemezian
@ ArtNet {{DEFAULTSORT:Terlemezian, Panos 1865 births 1941 deaths People's Artists of Armenia People from Van, Turkey Armenians from the Ottoman Empire Soviet painters 19th-century painters from the Ottoman Empire 19th-century Armenian painters 20th-century Armenian painters

Biography

References

Sources

Further reading

External links