{"id":1582,"date":"2015-07-17T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2015-07-17T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/arvestagir.am\/ekhspresionizmi-artahaytuthyuneh-hay-nkarichneri-ceghaspanuthyaneh-veraberogh-gortcerum\/"},"modified":"2026-10-21T11:22:31","modified_gmt":"2026-10-21T07:22:31","slug":"ekhspresionizmi-artahaytuthyuneh-hay-nkarichneri-ceghaspanuthyaneh-veraberogh-gortcerum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arvestagir.am\/en\/ekhspresionizmi-artahaytuthyuneh-hay-nkarichneri-ceghaspanuthyaneh-veraberogh-gortcerum\/","title":{"rendered":"Expressionism in genocide-related works of Armenian painters"},"content":{"rendered":"

Author of \u00a0the article Marine Hovakimyan<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Art historian<\/h5>\n

The works of Armenian artists commemorating the Armenian Genocide play an important role in Armenian national painting and sculpture.<\/p>\n

The canvases depicting genocidal episodes besides their documentary importance have also great artistic value, exceling in different forms of imaginary game, as well as bearing influences of a variety of artistic movements and eminent styles. Being originated in Germany Expressionism, along with Surrealism, Cubism, Abstractionism and numerous other movements has been manifested in these works.<\/p>\n

It is important to mention, that the ideological nature of Expressionism was mainly due to the crucial prerequisites, which had originated in Germany. The First and Second World Wars and the black shadow of those hard times took away the progressive notions from creative activities, gave birth to perturbed and pessimistic feelings, and this movement became a response to the most severe contradictions of the century and one of the pronounced expressions of hostility towards the ruling class. German harsh and dark spirit also contributed to the establishment of the melancholic character of this movement.<\/p>\n

And along with the formation of such inner world there was also a similar artistic language formed. The distortion, disfigurement and deformed and wry representation of reality, the striving for sharp lines and grotesque give the main characteristics of this movement.<\/p>\n

Thus, it can be said that in genocide-related works of Armenian painters the use of elements of Expressionism has not been accidental, since this movement in its origin was also generated and developed in the atmosphere of chaotic war and pressure on the individuality and became a reaction against war and human loss. As the genocide was one of the biggest perils of a human life\u2019s annihilation, it received a wide response among the artists, and the usage of such a consoling way of expression was predictable and logical.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The state of dispense from the existing correlations to European art for a long time in Armenia, and\u00a0 the thematic restrictions made in Soviet Union led to the fact that in the canvases, depicting the genocide and forcible migration, the reverberations of the influence of Expressionism were more apparent in the works of Armenian artists from Diaspora.\u00a0 Among these artists are the representative of Armenian-Italian colony Jirayr Oragyan, Armenian-Iranian repatriate artist Markos Grigoryan, the representatives of Armenian community in U.S.; sculptor, painter Khoren Ter-Harutyan, the founder of the abstract expressionism in Armenian art Arshlie Gorky\u00a0 and painter Sirun Yeretsyan.<\/p>\n