Vartan Ohanian arrived in America from Armenia in 1980, carrying with him a deeply disciplined artistic formation that few painters possess. His foundation was built across three countries and three esteemed institutions: graduating from the Terlemezian Art School in Yerevan, completing postgraduate studies at the Fine Arts and Theatre Institute of Yerevan, and further refining his craft at the Estonian State Institute of Fine Arts. This rigorous academic background granted him a profound understanding of exactly what a composition can hold.
Rooted in Cubism, Alive with Color
The paintings in Ohanian’s current exhibition are rooted in Cubism, yet they refuse to be strictly governed by it. His palette runs warm, inviting the viewer into carefully composed fields where moments of highly saturated color suddenly arrive.
The forms within his work are highly geometric and interlocking, but they are never rigid; something undeniably organic breathes inside each one. While his extensive classical training is visible in the architecture of every canvas, there is also an intuitive, emotional element present—something much harder to teach.
The Master Blacksmith
To fully understand Ohanian’s paintings, one must look to the sculptures that share the room—a powerful reminder of where his training began. Ohanian is also a master blacksmith.
The monumental commissions of his earlier life required immense physical and creative strength. His monumental works include a memorial dedicated to the Armenian struggle for liberation in a Yerevan public square, and a staggering 75-foot chandelier forged for an architectural landmark in St. Petersburg. Rising from the first floor to the top of the building in a single suspended gesture, Ohanian still considers this chandelier his greatest accomplishment.
“If you do a big monumental work and then you do small things, it is never the same.” — Vartan Ohanian
Forging a New Legacy
The paintings gathered in his current collection represent what he makes today. They are intimate in scale, yet incredibly precise in their ambition. Behind every brushstroke lies a larger longing and a transition of his monumental energy into a confined, two-dimensional space.
While the scale of his work has changed, the passion driving it remains just as fierce.
“Right now, my energy goes into painting, but that is not enough. I need to start my real work, to let me expel my feelings. This is my love. It is my life.”
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