BRIEF BIOGRAPHY

Yervand Kochar (Kocharyan) was born in Tbilisi on June 15, 1899. He was educated at Nersissyan school, in the Arts School of the Caucasus Association Promoting Fine Arts (known as O. Schmerling School) in Tbilisi, at Moscow Second State Tree Fine Arts Studios, at P. Konchalovsky

Konchalovsky

Konchalovsky is a Russian and Polish surname.Among notable Konchalovskys:*Pyotr Konchalovsky - a notable Russian painter;*Andrei Konchalovsky - an acclaimed Russian film writer and director, grandson of Pyotr....

's studio. In 1921 People's Commissariat of the Georgian SSR grants Y. Kotcharian a certificate of State Higher Arts and Technical Studios Professor. In 1921 - 1922 Kochar was elected on the exhibition commission of the Union of Armenian Artists and becomes a member of the "HAYARTUN" (House of Armenian Art). In April 1922 he heads from Batum for abroad - to Constantinople

Constantinople

Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...

, then to Venice

Venice

Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...

, Rome

Rome

Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

, Florence

Florence

Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....

 and Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

. Kochar's works were first exhibited in Tbilisi in 1921 and the following year in the Allied-controlled Constantinople (Istanbul) and in Venice. By 1923 Kochar settled down in Paris, where his art was well-received and earned enduring recognition. In 1928 the media prints sympathizing echoes on the occasion of cases of vandalism towards two sculpture-paintings by Kochar in the exhibition at the "Salon des Independants". Those works were the first heralds of "Painting in Space

Painting in Space

"Painting in Space" is an art movement that was invented by Yervand Kochar in the beginning of 20th century. It syntheses all the possibilities of painting, graphic and sculpture. Painting in Space consists of different metal panels with various paintings...

". In February Dr. Alendi delivers a lecture in Sorbonne

Sorbonne

The Sorbonne is an edifice of the Latin Quarter, in Paris, France, which has been the historical house of the former University of Paris...

 on Kochar's "new painting". Kochar's Painting in Space one-man show opens in "Van Leer" Gallery. The 15 works presented were new plastic and artistic means of expression which involved time as an additional fourth dimension. The author of the catalogue was George Valdemar. In 1929 the international exhibition, "Panorama de L`art contemporain"("Panorama of Contemporary Art") organized in the halls of the "BONAPART" Publishers, Kochar presents works of "Painting in Space". Among the participants of the exhibition were Braque, Chagall, Delone, Matisse, Picabia, Picasso, Liursa, Miro

Miro

Miro may refer to:* Mojahedin of the Islamic Revolution Organization, a reformist Iranian political organization* Prumnopitys ferruginea, an evergreen coniferous tree endemic to New Zealand.* Miro Technologies, an MRO supplier from California...

, Survage, Utrillaux , Vlamink and others. Kochar meets Leonse Rosenberg, the well-known patron and connoisseur of modern art, who becomes a fan of Kochar's art. In 1936 at the threshold of glory and the peak of his artistic fame, to the surprise of many, Kochar repatriates to the Soviet Armenia, without the least doubt that he is leaving Paris for good. Between 1941-43 Kochar was imprisoned on politically-motivated charges, but was eventually freed due to due to the interference of his friends from Nersissian School, Karo Halabian and Anastas Mikoian. Yervand Kochar continued working in Yerevan, earning recognition as an Honored Artist of Armenia in 1956, People's Artist of Armenia in 1965, State Prize recipient in 1967, Soviet Order of Red Banner in 1971 and People's Artist of the Soviet Union in 1976. His most recognized works include the statues of David of Sassoun (1959) which has become the symbol of Yerevan, the capital of Armenia; of Vardan Mamikonian (1975); of Komitas (1969) in Echmiadzin

Echmiadzin

Mother Cathedral of Holy Etchmiadzin is a 4th century Armenian church in the town of Ejmiatsin, Armenia. It is also the central cathedral of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin of the Armenian Apostolic Church....

. One of his masterpieces in painting is "Disasters of War". In 1963 National Museum of Modern Art Centre Georges Pompidou

Centre Georges Pompidou

Centre Georges Pompidou is a complex in the Beaubourg area of the 4th arrondissement of Paris, near Les Halles, rue Montorgueil and the Marais...

 in Paris acquires one of Kochar's works of "Painting in the Space" (1934). Kochar died in 1979 in Yerevan. A museum dedicated to his art opened near Yerevan's Cascade in 1984. In 1999 UNESCO

UNESCO

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...

 marked Kochar's centennial as one of "outstanding dates" in world art. In 2010 Armenia

Armenia

Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...

's Union of Artists opened an exhibit dedicated to Yervand Kochar's artistic legacy marking 110 years since the artist's birth.

Wife-Manik Mkrtchyan (1913-1984).
Sons with Manik Mkrtchayn- Haykaz Kochar (1946) and Ruben Kochar (1953)

External links

• http://www.maestrokochar.com/
• http://www.kochar.am
• Documentary about Yervand Kochar