Bidspirit auction | Gayane Khachaturian (Armenian, 1942-2009)

Gayane Khachaturian (Armenian, 1942-2009) - Gayane Khachaturian (Armenian, 1942-2009), ”Carnival - Red Elephant”, oil on canvas, signed l.r. also signed dated 2004 and titled on reverse, 75 x 96 cm. Notes Gayane Khachaturian (1942–2009). Georgian-born Armenian painter and graphic artist, born in Tbilisi into an Armenian family; studied at the Nikoladze Art School, entering the art scene seriously after 1960. Championed early by Alexander Bazhbeuk-Melikyan and admired by Martiros Saryan. A pivotal 1967 meeting with Sergei Parajanov at Elene Akhvlediani's home led to a close, lifelong friendship. Her Bakinskaya Street studio in Tbilisi became a noted destination for visitors during her lifetime. Known for a distinctive style of magical realism/classical painting, richly poetic and personal in vision, Russian critic Vitaly Patsyukov placed her among the pioneers of a new artistic consciousness bridging European ”actual view” with radical, natural sensuousness. Widely regarded as one of the greatest Armenian female artists, though she lived her entire life in Georgia and remained connected to the Armenian art community, signing her works in Armenian. In 2009, the Armenian pavilion at the Venice Biennale was devoted entirely to 15 of her works, she died two months before it opened. Works held in: Yerevan Museum of Modern Art, National Gallery of Armenia, Sergei Parajanov Museum (Yerevan), and private collections including those of Valery Khanukayev, Bagrat Nikogosyan and Artashes Aleksanyan.