Karo Mkrtchyan

The typical of 1980's generation's trait was a sincere trend in searching new stylistic principles in national painting through the hard furrow to plough. Karo Mkrtchyan was one of the generation brilliant personalities who became a symbol of the national art ascent. His art is diverse from genre and thematic aspects. A number of his works are characterized by a delicate poetic accent and multi-sense content in which the inner tints modulations create an exterior peace, though, full of inner intentions warm-hearted atmosphere.

The artist lived a buoyant rise especially in the 1980s. That time he took part in the Republican, All-USSR and dozen foreign countries group exhibitions. His works were exposed in France, Germany, Czechoslovakia, Norway, Finland, Bulgaria, Japan, Denmark and many other countries, they also were established in some issues and catalogues. The art of the talented painter Karo Mkrtchyan is keeping on its triumphal march with its just, pure and royal colors.

In 1978 Karo Mkrtchyan for his great canvas "Actress" was awarded YCL prize "For the best creative work". The canvas rendered and generalized the peculiarities of the most of his certainty and sharpness, in here, she is likely embodies the image of art as it is. The heroine's face with chink pupils like in Pierrot's portrait is alive and at the same time, quite abstract, endowed with attractive, magic force. No doubt, the artist aimed at creating complicated, multilayer image and brilliantly achieved his target.

As for portraits they are also all light and tenderness. With the help of typical of him dark colors, using light and shadow contrast, he succeeded in creating wonderful images. Karo Mkrtchyan created also a number of remarkable canvases-group portraits imbued with harmony between a man and surrounding him world, rendering his affection towards time, color and mankind. Karo's such canvases like "Walk at night" (1977), "Artist" (1979), "Parting" (1978), "Return" (1979) and many others stand apart by rendering complicated emotional state. The artist gives us a chance to experience some other exciting feelings. We are waiting, parting, walking along the streets at night with the heroes...every time feeling the moment stopped by the artist's will, ready to live in this moment forever-penetrating into the space of the image.

Karo Mkrtchyan was born in the Banants village, Gardman Province of Artsakh, Armenia. In 1968 he left secondary school. Karo became a member of the Artists' Union of Armenia in 1971 and two years later, in 1973, graduated from the Yerevan State Institute of Art and Drama. In 1981 he was nominated as a member of the Union of Artists of the USSR. He graduated from the Moscow Academy of Painting in 1982. From 1996, Karo was a member of International Association of Artists UNESCO. From 1996 to 1999 he worked in Paris at the International Association of Art. Karo Mkrtchyan died in Yerevan in 2001.

Karo Mkrtchyan (Armenian: Կարո Մկրտչյան, 28 March 1951 – 2001) was a well-known Armenian painter and public figure. He was aligned with the avant-garde movement. An independent and freethinker, Karo fled the USSR's cultural blockade. For much of his life Karo Mkrtchyan lived and painted outside his native USSR.