Richard Jeranian (1921-2019), Untitled
Print on paper, 79 x 60 cm (in frame).
Signed in lower right corner, numbered 99/100 in lower left corner.
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Richard Jeranian - Armenian painter, illustrator, lithographer, active in France. He was born on July 17, 1921 in Sebaste (then Ottoman Empire) and died on October 10, 2019 in Paris. His family left Turkey in 1930 and settled first in a refugee camp in Marseille, then in Pont Saint Esprit, where his father - a literature professor - found employment in a ceramic tile factory.
Richard's talent manifested itself early and he took his first steps in the world of painting as a teenager, supported by the painter Sarkissian, a family neighbor. He later went on to study at the Academy of Fine Arts in Marseille, where he was invariably inspired by the landscapes of Provence. However, the development of his career is interrupted by the war. Richard, responsible for his family - his brothers were sent to the front - takes a job in an auto repair shop. He observes persecution - which he experienced in his early childhood as an Armenian in Turkey - and drama. Eventually, at the end of 1944, he is mobilized in the ranks of the Air Force, while still stateless. He is sent to Algiers, then to Fez in Morocco; he will remain there until 1946. This is also the beginning of his numerous travels around the world.
In 1947 he returns to Paris, where he meets Alice Kavoukdzian, a young Armenian whose family came from Istanbul and was related to the great poet Zahrad. Two years later they marry, and Alice will be his muse for the rest of her life. It was also she, gifted with an astute artistic sense, who encouraged him to have his first gallery exhibitions.
In the 1950s, the artist traveled extensively, especially to Iran and Lebanon, which would become a gateway to a great career for him, but also have a great influence on his work. With his exhibitions in the first galleries of Beirut, Jéranian very quickly became a pioneer of Lebanese painting, so much so that he was considered a Lebanese artist. He befriended painters of the younger generation, and maintained close relations with the presidents of the Republic of Lebanon Charles Hélou and Fouhad Chéhab.
He enjoyed similar success in Iran, where he exhibited in the galleries of Tehran. He even became a protégé of the Empress of Iran.
He also made numerous trips to his native Armenia, thus becoming a link between Armenia, Iran, Lebanon and France.
He has received many awards and decorations for his work, in which various influences are mixed. His works are part of private and public collections, including permanent exhibitions at the Pushkin Museum in Moscow and the National Art Gallery of Armenia, among others.
