Grigor Khandjian

Grigor Khandjian began his career as a genre painter. His canvases and early illustrations for books by Armenian writers and poets revealed the artist's bent for lyricism and a sharp eye for love of minute detail. Already in his illustrations for Tumanian's poem Sako of Lori (1957) the master displayed temperament, expressiveness, and great skill in representing highly dramatic scenes in addition to a complete lack of shyness in rendering multifigured compositions filled with dynamism and tension. In later years Khandjian used this style to execute themes of a different inner meaning: the history of Armenia becomes the main subject matter of his work. The historical concept of his native people was forming gradually in the artist's mind, gaining maturity and completeness with the passage of years. His interpretation of historical themes becomes clear in his illustrations for Abovian's novel Armenia's Wounds, in his presentation of the tragic events described in the book, of the masses involved in those events and in his accentuation of the hero's figure leading his people. The Epic-of-Heroism theme is treated here along with the Self-Sacrifice motif. In the black-and-white pages, the deeds and nature of Agasi, the principal hero of the novel, are presented with romantic élan and inscription. In the book design field Khandjian distinguished himself next with his illustrations of Sevak's poem The Ever-Tolling Bell Tower. The illustrations brought to light another aspect of Armenia's history. The central figure of the poem is the composer Komitas, its main theme is the story of his life and death. Komitas shared with his people the tragedy of the 1915 massacre of the Armenian population in Turkey. The illustrations were inspired by and dealt with the facts of the composer's fate. As designed by Khandjian, the poem became an indispensable book in each household in Armenia. The artist treated the subject on a par with the author helping to retain in the reader's memory the vivid image of the hero and his own view on the tragedy. The exhibition of Khandjian's recent cartoon for tapestries on the best known events of national history became a landmark in Armenia's art life. The cartoons depicted the battle-scene of the 541 A.D. war waged by Prince Vardan Mamikonian with the Persians and the invention of the Armenian alphabet by Mesrop Mashtots in the fifth century. Khandjian executed the battle-scene with the sweep of a classic battle painting displaying a superb skill in brush and color handling. The cartoon left a profound impression upon the viewers. By a happy stroke of his imagination the artist placed outstanding cultural figures of Armenia's past and present history. Easily recognized by viewers, they were thus honored and given their due in art. The implication was clear to the public - everybody who has contributed to his or her native culture is a combatant in the people's battle for its life, dignity, and national identity. The response of the viewers to those cartoons was so enthusiastic that it was deemed necessary to reproduce them as huge frescoes in a special hall of a cultural center under final construction in Yerevan, Armenia's capital. It is noteworthy that Khandjian owes the success of his book illustrations and of his cartoons - tapestries were made after them in France in 1985 - not only to his pictorial skills and the plastic authenticity of his art. It also springs form the artist's overtly didactical treatment of the theme and of those involved in the events he depicts. He shows the hero as the symbol of light and the hero's enemies as the embodiment of evil. The chords struck by the painter in his viewers' hearts unite them all without exception in acclaim for his work. Khandjian's art never impresses one as a product of straightforward spontaneity - it bears witness to the artist's prolonged pondering of the landmarks in Armenian history and those who make it. The artist