Arthur A. (Art) Pinajian was an

Armenian American Armenian Americans () are citizens or residents of the United States who have total or partial Armenian ancestry. They form the second largest community of the Armenian diaspora after Armenians in Russia. The first major wave of Armenian immig ...

comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

writer.Pinajian entry
Lambiek Comiclopedia. Accessed Nov. 14, 2011. He was active as a comic book creator from the late 1930s throughout the 1950s, during the

Golden Age of Comic Books The Golden Age of Comic Books describes an era in the history of American comic books from 1938 to 1956. During this time, modern comic books were first published and rapidly increased in popularity. The superhero archetype was created and ma ...

, and as an artist from the 1950s until his death in 1999. He was a member of the Eisner-Iger Studio in 1938-39 and of Funnies, Inc. in 1939-42. Pinajian created the

Quality Comics Quality Comics was an American comic book publishing Publishing is the activities of making information, literature, music, software, and other content, physical or digital, available to the public for sale or free of charge. Traditionally, ...

characters Madame Fatal'The World's First Cross-Dressing Superhero'
Accessed Jan. 17, 2013 and the

Invisible Hood The Invisible Hood is a fictional superhero in the DC Comics Universe. He was originally owned by Quality Comics, but was later acquired by DC Comics, along with other Quality characters. He first appeared in '' Smash Comics'' #1 (August 1939), ...

, also known as Hooded Justice and Invisible Justice.

Early life

Born in 1914, Pinajian grew up in an Armenian community in West Hoboken, New Jersey (now

Union City, New Jersey Union City is a City (New Jersey), city in the North Hudson, New Jersey, northern part of Hudson County, New Jersey, Hudson County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the city was List of municipalities in Ne ...

), and was a self-trained cartoonist. His parents survived the 1915

Armenian genocide The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenians, 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 t ...

and subsequently made their way to the United States. Pinajian's poetic color combinations are linked to the tonalities of his fellow Armenian,

Arshile Gorky Arshile Gorky ( ; born Vostanik Manoug Adoian, ; April 15, 1904 – July 21, 1948) was an Armenian Americans, Armenian-American painter who had a seminal influence on Abstract Expressionism. He spent the last years of his life as a national of the ...

Career and legacy

Pinajian worked on many 1930s

Centaur Publications Centaur Publications (also known as Centaur Comics) was one of the earliest American comic book publishers. During their short existence, they created several colorful characters, including Bill Everett's Amazing-Man (Centaur Publications), Amazi ...

titles and features, including 'Captain Juan', 'Egbert the Great', and 'Tim Roberts'. He subsequently joined Funnies Inc. Pinajian also drew 'Captain Terry Thunder' for

Fiction House Fiction House was an American publisher of pulp magazines and comic books that existed from the 1920s to the 1950s. It was founded by John B. "Jack" Kelly and John W. Glenister.Saunders, David"JACK BYRNE (1902-1972),"Field Guide to Wild American P ...

, 'Inspector Bancroft' for

Fox Comics Fox Feature Syndicate (also known as Fox Comics, Fox Publications, and Bruns Publications, Inc.) was a comic book publisher from early in the period known to fans and historians as the Golden Age of Comic Books. Founded by entrepreneur Victor S. ...

, 'The Wasp' for

Lev Gleason Publications Lev Gleason Incorporated, formerly known as Lev Gleason Publishing, is a Canadian comic book company founded by Leverett Stone Gleason (1898–1971). They were the publisher of a number of popular comic books during the 1940s and early 1950s, incl ...

, and 'Jungle Terror' for

Timely Comics Timely Comics was the common name for the group of corporations that was the earliest comic book arm of American publisher Martin Goodman (publisher), Martin Goodman, and the entity that would evolve by the 1960s to become Marvel Comics. "Timely P ...

. He was a regular at

with ' Hooded Justice', 'Invisible Justice', ' Madam Fatal' and 'Reynolds of the Mounted'. In the 1950s he worked on

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

stories for

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Marvel Marvel may refer to: Business * Marvel Entertainment, an American entertainment company ** Marvel Comics, the primary imprint of Marvel Entertainment ** Marvel Universe, a fictional shared universe ** Marvel Music, an imprint of Marvel Comics ...

. He served in the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

in World War II and received the

Bronze Star Medal The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a Awards and decorations of the United States Armed Forces, United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious a ...

for valor. Pinajian also painted portraits, landscapes and some abstract works. He has been cited for his work in the field of

abstract expressionism Abstract expressionism in the United States emerged as a distinct art movement in the aftermath of World War II and gained mainstream acceptance in the 1950s, a shift from the American social realism of the 1930s influenced by the Great Depressi ...

. Pinajian had instructed that the works be thrown away when he died. His wishes were ignored, and $30 million worth of his art was found in the garage of the Bellport, Long Island home where Pinajian lived from 1973 until his death in 1999. Two investors purchased the home in 2007 with the intent of renovating it, not knowing the art that was stored there. A collection of Arthur Pinajian's work, discovered in 2007, generated interest in the art community. A day school showed the paintings in March 2013. At the first gallery exhibit, one painting sold for $100,000, so far the highest price paid for one of Pinajian's paintings although works are usually listed for around $5,000. Thomas Schultz, who helped save the collection, is the full-time registrar. American art historian Peter Hastings Falk is the exhibitions director and chief curator and values the collection at around 30 million dollars. In 2019, an updated estimate put the value of the collection at $90 million. A 2015 book by Pinajian's cousin

Pete Najarian Peter Michael Najarian is an American options trader, television personality, market analyst, and co-founder of options news and education firm optionMONSTER. Along with his brother, Jon Najarian, he founded an online brokerage called trad ...

, "The Paintings of Art Pinajian, A Family Story," alleges that Pinajian had verbally left his paintings to Najarian, but left no written will. The book seeks to prove that Pinajian never wanted his work “thrown into the garbage,” as was stated by Falk in his book, ''Pinajian, Master of Abstraction Discovered,'' which states, "Pinajian left instructions for his collection to be discarded in the town dump."

Death

Pinajian died in 1999. He is buried in Calverton National Cemetery, Calverton, Suffolk County, New York.Fisher, Joy (June 15, 2006 )
"Calverton National Cemetery (Piazzese-Pinon); Calverton, Suffolk co., NY"

United States Department of Veterans Affairs The United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is a Cabinet-level executive branch department of the federal government charged with providing lifelong healthcare services to eligible military veterans at the 170 VA medical centers an ...

. National Cemetery, Administration database.

References

External links

Website of The Estate Collection of ARTHUR PINAJIAN, 1914 - 1999
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pinajian, Art American comics artists Golden Age comics creators American people of Armenian descent 1999 deaths Ethnic Armenian painters American portrait painters 20th-century American painters American male painters People from Union City, New Jersey People from Bellport, New York Marvel Comics people Burials at Calverton National Cemetery