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Lot Essay
Gevork Bashinjaghian is a key figure in the Armenian Art and is the founder of the landscape genre in Armenian painting. He was born in the small town of Signagi in Georgia and, thanks to his early artistic ability, was admitted to the Imperial Academy of Arts in St Petersburg.
Having graduated from the Academy with a silver medal, he was given the opportunity to travel in Europe for a few months and was, in this way, able to study the art collections of Switzerland, Italy and Germany. From 1889 to 1901 Bashinjaghian lived in Paris with his family, where he enjoyed the use of his own studio. Nevertheless, the artist was to return to his homeland, the Caucasus, and eventually settled in Tiflis, its cultural capital at that time.
Bashinjaghian studied under many prominent artists including Mikhail Klodt (1832-1902) and Arkhip Kuindzhi (1842-1902), and his artistic oeuvre is distinguished by highly professional qualities and craftsmanship. The wholeness and harmony of Moonlit river bank, as well as the accuracy and subtlety in the convening of various states of nature - the shimmering of the moonlight on the water surface of a river or lake and the effects of nocturnal illumination (the so-called ‘Nocturnes’ – a genre which is practically obsolete in modern painting) - are all strengths of this work. Furthermore, Bashinjaghian is a recognised master of aerial perspective. Among his favourite subjects were the views of Armenia: Lake Sevan at night and day and his monumental and lyrical views of the biblical Ararat.
We are grateful to Natella Bashinjaghian, PhD in Art History, the granddaughter of Gevork Bashinjaghian, Senior Reacher at the State Institute of Arts History, Moscow, for providing this note.
Having graduated from the Academy with a silver medal, he was given the opportunity to travel in Europe for a few months and was, in this way, able to study the art collections of Switzerland, Italy and Germany. From 1889 to 1901 Bashinjaghian lived in Paris with his family, where he enjoyed the use of his own studio. Nevertheless, the artist was to return to his homeland, the Caucasus, and eventually settled in Tiflis, its cultural capital at that time.
Bashinjaghian studied under many prominent artists including Mikhail Klodt (1832-1902) and Arkhip Kuindzhi (1842-1902), and his artistic oeuvre is distinguished by highly professional qualities and craftsmanship. The wholeness and harmony of Moonlit river bank, as well as the accuracy and subtlety in the convening of various states of nature - the shimmering of the moonlight on the water surface of a river or lake and the effects of nocturnal illumination (the so-called ‘Nocturnes’ – a genre which is practically obsolete in modern painting) - are all strengths of this work. Furthermore, Bashinjaghian is a recognised master of aerial perspective. Among his favourite subjects were the views of Armenia: Lake Sevan at night and day and his monumental and lyrical views of the biblical Ararat.
We are grateful to Natella Bashinjaghian, PhD in Art History, the granddaughter of Gevork Bashinjaghian, Senior Reacher at the State Institute of Arts History, Moscow, for providing this note.