Vardges Sureniants

Vardges Sureniants (; 27 February 1860 – 6 April 1921) was an Armenian painter, sculptor, illustrator, translator, art critic, and theater artist. He is considered the founder of Armenian historical painting. His paintings feature scenes from Armenian fairy-tales and various historical events. Although Sureniants had only one exhibition dedicated to his works in his lifetime, he was admired by many of his contemporaries who include many well-known figures in Armenian and Russian society such as Martiros Saryan, Ilya Repin, and Vladimir Stasov.

Life

Vardges Sureniants was born in Akhaltsikhe, Russian Empire in modern-day Georgia on 27 February 1860. He and his wife, Ustine Sureniants, had five children— four sons and one daughter, with Vardges being the youngest. The Sureniants family moved to Simferopol in 1868. As a family passionate about art, the Surenyants receive a warm welcome from a noble seascape painter Hovhannes Aivazovsky in Simferopol. Around 1868, young Vardges Surenyants joined a travel journey to Bakhchisaray with Aivazovsky’s family, returning full of impressions. He admired the Zuruck Su River, the halls of Abdul Sakhal Girei Khan’s palace, the gardens and the marble fountains. He was especially fascinated with the famous Fountain of Tears, which he later sketched at home with a pencil. That very drawing impressed the famous seascape painter Aivazovsky, who saw a great potential and talent in the young artist’s work. For his drawing, young Vardges Surenyants receives great encouragement from Aivazovsky, who gives him a set of paints as a gesture of support.

He traveled to Italy in 1881 and visited the island of San Lazzaro degli Armeni where the Armenian Catholic congregation of the Mechitarists is located. In their library he studied Armenian fine art and Armenian manuscripts. He created portraits of Mikayel Chamchian and others. In 1883, he wrote his first article which was published in the Armenian newspaper Meghu Hayastani entitled "A Few Words about Armenian Architecture". In 1885–87, he traveled to the Persian cities of Tabriz, Tehran, Isfahan and Shiraz with Russian orientalist Valentin Zhukovski's expedition.

In 1917 Sureniants moved to Yalta where he was commissioned to draw the decorations for the newly built Armenian cathedral. Sureniants decorated the altar, walls, and dome of the church. While decorating the church Surentiants suffered a grave illness. He died on 6 April 1921, and is buried in the premises of the Armenian church of Yalta.

Work and style

In his early career as an artist, Sureniants became interested in caricatures and sketches during his study at the Lazarian School. While in Munich, Sureniants also worked at painting and line drawing. Some of his caricatures were published in the Fliegende Blätter magazine. He was also known for his illustrations of famous literary works, including Ferdowsi's Shahname, Alexander Pushkin's The Fountain of Bakhchisaray, the fairy tales of Oscar Wilde and works by the Belgian poet Georges Rodenbach, the Armenian writer Smbat Shahaziz and Alexander Tsaturyan. He once said that "painters must paint life the way it appears in front of our eyes." His style reflected this notion through his depiction of landscapes and historical events. He played an instrumental role in reviving Armenian historical events through the medium of art. Pointillism was one of his chief techniques.

Legacy Despite his success as a painter, Sureniants had only one monographic exhibition in his lifetime. However, there have been many posthumous exhibitions in his honor, including exhibitions at Venice (1924), Yerevan (1931, 1941, 1960, 2010) and elsewhere. The most recent exhibition was held in 2010 in honor of Sureniants' 150th anniversary. During the exhibition, the Prime Minister of Armenia, Tigran Sargsyan, said that: Sureniants can well be ascribed to the family of the world's best artists, and our State has much to do in this respect: the celebration of his 150th anniversary should launch the process of his international recognition. I happened to discover an exciting detail as I familiarized myself with his life experience. During his lifetime, Sureniants had only one personal exposition: in Baku in 1901. Our initiative is exceptional from this point of view as we have tried to bring to the public's attention all we could collect over time.

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