P. 44. History of the Civilization and Arts of Armenia from the Bronze Age to Present. By Maximillien de Lafayette. The Globe Weekly News

Continued from the previous page

THE CILICIAN STYLE

FROM ITS GLORIOUS DAYS, ITS ORIGIN, ITS RISE, ITS GLORY TO ITS FALL AND DEATH ON THE HAND OF THE MAMLUKS!

The second style of the early Armenian manuscripts painting is the Cilician style.   A very beautiful, colorful, rich, vibrant, humanistic and detailed brighter and happier art.  Tens of thousands of illuminated manuscripts were produced in the times of medieval Armenia. Unfortunately many perished. But, fortunately a few but relatively significant number survived and currently   several illuminated manuscripts are well-preserved and well kept in Yerevan (Erevan), Armenia and at other international secular and religious Armenian centers around the around, to name a few: The Mekhitarist Library of Vienna in Austria, the Library of St. James of the Armenian Patriarchate in Jerusalem in Israel, the Mekhitarist Library of San Lazzaro in Venice in Italy,  Armenia National Archives and  museums of colleges and universities in the United States of America, such as Harvard University and the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC. USA. The Cilician style was deeply influenced by western painting and Byzantine art, as well as by Armenian artists’ personal innovation which was stimulated by the training they received and art practice they developed in foreign schools teaching Western art. Later on, in the 19^th century, and the 20^th century,  contemporary and modern Armenian artists would follow the same path. The majority of modern Armenian artists who studied in Russia, Italy, Germany and France will go through the same process, learn foreign art techniques, use different media, mixed media and explore new artistic dimensions and variations. Foreign artistic influence was visibly noticeable and clear in the work of contemporary artists such as: Leon Tutundjian, Jansem, Carzou and Kochar as well as many other Armenian artists who lived, trained and worked in Europe. Some became world wide famous and rich. Others lived all their lives and died in total poverty and absolute misery.

THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE CILICIAN STYLE: THE BYZANTINE, PERSIAN, RUSSIAN AND EUROPEAN INFLUENCES

The Cilician style was originated and rapidly developed by Armenian artists who studied the techniques and the traditions of Western art. In the 9^th, 10^th and 11^th  centuries, Byzantine art influenced Armenian painters who later, combined it with their own innovations, creativity and personal experiences. This, gave birth and rise to the development of the Cilician style. The new Armenian art was baptized under the genre of Cicilian style named after the  legendary and magnificent Ancient Armenian kingdom CILICIA whose  social upper classes and nobility supported  and patronized artists, painters, illustrators, calligraphers, musicians, historians and several individuals who embraced any form of art or followed any school of the disciplines and endeavors of arts and humanities. Cilician new school of art brought a fresh breeze to the ancient  and aging Armenian ethnic art. It did help the old format of the manuscripts painting in  developing its techniques, brightening its colors and offering it new approaches and revitalized views on and at new visions and dimensions. Cilician art began to add and adopt a new format and a new look. It incorporated ornamental  motifs, intricate floral design,  figures of birds, sophisticated  geometrical patterns with curves and contours, bright stars, imaginary and surrealistic  creatures painted with refined details and  utmost precision. Human figures began to look more human, more animated and more realistic. In contrast with the former aging Armenian style and conventional ethnic art, artists of the new school began to stress and define meticulous details,  to paint and render human figures, faces, bodies, facial expressions, human forms and gestures in a more life-like manner. The background got richer, more evocative, more illustrated, more animated, bearing some themes and added details to the “background compositions” on numerous and varied  levels. The artists of the new style began to use gold leaf to enrich  the background of their paintings.  The Cilician artists began to place a great importance on the background of the manuscripts which commenced to incorporate scenes representing humans, celestial elements and delightful landscapes with warm and welcoming colors. In contrast with the earlier Armenian art, the old symbolism approach to painting was transformed into and replaced by realism. 

 

P. 45. History of the Civilization and Arts of Armenia from the Bronze Age to Present. By Maximillien de Lafayette. The Globe Weekly News

 

ENTERING THE 13th CENTURY WITH TOROS ROSLIN

 

Photo: ST. THEODORE by the Anonymous Painter of SYUNIQ

Each page of the manuscripts was decorated and illustrated with birds, floral pattern, delicate circular and rectangular patterns and constructions, green branches, trees, flowers, roses, plants, vines, all kinds of lines, from the straight to the curved and from the circular to the rectangular. The margins of the page began to look like a rich fabric with multi-colors and ornamental presentations. Those ornamentations incorporated a wide and a rich variety of motifs and  creative forms of decoration, floral circular illustrations with gentle curves, branches of trees painted carefully with delicate precision and attention to details. The dark and somber colors of the old and aging style  were replaced by vibrant, sunny and brighter colors. Even the thickness of paint applied to the parchments , papers, pages, covers and media got thicker, deeper, heavier and richer. The artists began to paint “generously” not worrying about how much paint and colors should they use, apply or spend in their creative work. The Cilician style was rich in color and multi-varied in motifs and figures. Its ornamental design was  richer and more varied than the Byzantine style. It had an elegant flair to it, an austere simplicity with complex compositions without becoming heavily over-ornamental as it was the case with the Byzantine art which incorporated a dense  profusion of Islamic decoration, illustrations, figurines and ornamental geometrical and curved constructional patterns. In addition, the Cilician style brought to light some very new and innovative features such imaginary creatures , human figures and  animal heads replacing the  Byzantine leaves in floral scrolls. This artistic innovation and novelty are evident in the paintings of the leader and pioneer Toros Roslin (More on him, later)  At the beginning, Armenians used Byzantine art motifs, figures, drawings, illustrations and Byzantine painting techniques as source for their new style and as a model for their manuscripts,  however, they added  traits, figures, features and illustrations of their own creativity and innovation.

 For instance,  by the mid of the 11^th  century, canon tables and canon pages were framed  and illustrated by drawings of trees and branches, griffins and fantastic animals with human heads around the canon tables; those are additions and a purely Armenian novelty which did not exist in Byzantine art. By the end of the 12^th  century the Armenian manuscripts have acquired their own ethnic/national identity and artistic characteristics and consequently became free of foreign influences, thus they were no longer dependent on Byzantine style models to paint and illustrate their illuminated manuscripts and miniatures. Thousands of  Cilician manuscripts were produced  and re-copied during  medieval Armenia. A very few number  of illuminated manuscripts survived. Fortunately, some of the best works of the ancient masters are well-preserved and well-kept in the MATENADARAN which is the official Armenian Collection-Archives of Manuscripts in the capital Erevan (Yerevan), Armenia. Armenian artists  and particularly Cilician artists worked with several media, mixed media and elements such as: stone, wood, metal, lace, textiles, fabrics, linens, clothes,  books, printing, books bindings, parchments,  figures embossing, papers, jewelry, icons, relics, figurines, glasses, pottery, ceramics, titles, silver, gold, bronze, iron, numerous metals, tafta, terra cotta,  manuscripts, illustrations, miniatures, portraitures, painting, mosaic, etc. But,  the predominant art form was painting which was considered more than art; a necessity and a duty for the decoration  of  Armenian churches and cathedrals. Painting art was blessed by the Armenian church and honored by the natives.  Decorating a church was considered a sacred art and illustrating/painting a holly manuscript was considered as a sacred duty. Religion dominated all aspects and facets of Armenian life.

 

 

P. 46. History of the Civilization and Arts of Armenia from the Bronze Age to Present. By Maximillien de Lafayette. The Globe Weekly News

 

Photo: The hlowers of Chamlihai by Martiros Saryan.

Even copying a manuscript was considered as praise worthy as building a church. Upon fleeing their monasteries during foreign invasions by hostile armies and greedy monarchs. Armenian monks would carry with them the  most valuable possessions; possessions they could carry by hand or be placed on the back of their donkeys or chariots if they were available. The most precious possession was the illuminated manuscripts.

ENTERING THE 14^th CENTURY AND THE END OF A GOLDEN ERA

By the 14^th  century,  a major artistic event occurred, a sort of a U-Turn; the return of Armenian painting to its roots and to the dawn of its origin. Looking upon the paintings of the pioneer and leader  Sarkis Pidzak , we observe a complete divergence and an opposite/contradictory style, far away and so different from the Cilician style of the 12^th and 13^th centuries. Pidzak’s paintings incorporated simple and simplistic geometrical patterns, free of complicated and richly designed  figures and ornamental forms. His figures were not elegant and refined. They were heavy, short and sort of tough. A sense of repetitious conformity and a disciplined consistency order followed rigorously on all the pages of his illuminated manuscripts. Unfortunately, we do sense the absence of elegance and variety in forms, ornaments, patterns, designs, figurations and configurations. A style so different from the illuminated manuscripts paintings of previous centuries where each page was illustrated and painted differently. Each single page had its own design, colors, patterns, width and size of margins, particular rich and warm textiles colors quality to each single page, sometimes, each single section of the page. All this magnificent artistic rich display of varied visions, colors, creativity, beauty vanished in a way in the 14^th century.

THE END: THE DISASTROUS FALL AND THE END OF THE GREAT CILICIAN ART

The Mamlooks (also Mamlukes) are here. It means disastrous events of an apocalyptic proportions, decay and death of the arts and humanities! And this is what exactly happened to the Cilician art on the hand of the conquerors. A cataclysmic horror! Catastrophe and paroxysm ad infinitum. The Mamelukes conquered the kingdom of Cilicia, thus  ending the Cilician art for good. But, the great and noble spirit of the Armenian continued to shine and produce in Greater Armenia until the 17^th century. Other disastrous events  in forthcoming centuries will follow soon. And the Armenian art will suffer again! This shall constitute our future topics in many parts to come.

FROM THE EARLY ICONS ERA TO THE PRE-MODERN ART PERIOD: HAKOP HOVNATANIAN.

The Armenian modern painting era commenced with Hakop Hovnatanian (1806-1881) favorite son of the Hovnatanian family masters and monopolists of the Armenian miniaturists dynasty in the nineteenth century.  Called in the West and in the East “The Raphael of Tiflis”. Miniature is one of those primordial forms of medieval way of thinking in art with  universal, human and artistic values and upon which canons were  extensively elaborated for numerous centuries. Referring to Hakop Hovnatanian is simultaneously  referring to  the members of the Hovnatanian as a whole. An illustrious family which produced splendid frescoes that occupy a place of honor and pride in eastern Armenia churches and majestic cathedrals and painted portraits of well to do Armenians  displayed in museums in Yerevan and Tiflis. The illustrious Hovnatanyan family was under the auspices of Naghash Hovnatan (1661-1722), the venerated and well-known poet, illustrator and painter. He was the patriarch of the family by all means. While his grandson Hovnatan Hovnatanian (1730-1801) was in charge of the immense panel paintings of Etchmiadzin, Hakob Hovnatanian , his son was responsible for pioneering and perfecting the art of portraiture.  A craft the family practiced for years and passed it on to its grand children. Their clientele consisted of the wealthy and the upper class Armenian families including the bourgeoisie of cosmopolitan Tiflis in the second half of the nineteenth century. During all the nineteenth century, the majority of Armenian artists, with the exception of Hakob Hovnathanian received their training and learn the trade on the hand of Russian artists and teachers in St. Petersburg, Paris, Munich and other European art academies. 

 

P. 47. History of the Civilization and Arts of Armenia from the Bronze Age to Present. By Maximillien de Lafayette. The Globe Weekly News

 

Consequently, upon their return to the homeland, those artists who studied abroad brought new techniques, styles and methods to the Armenian national art. Consequently, new ideas, new concepts and new insights were incorporated in the original and traditional national Armenian art. The return of those artists who have been influenced by French, Russian and German artists and teachers originated the integration of these new  views, approaches, methods and forms into a new national art-style which lasted until the dawn of the coming century. Thus, the returning artists became the l9th century original pioneers. Thanks to them, to their followers and to a handful of visionary writers and art teachers, the newly introduced and now The National Armenian New Art Style flourished. Among those who diligently and effectively contributed to the development of the new art were Abovian, Alishan, Nalbandian and Patkanian  who by the same token  renewed and developed the “Concept of the Homeland” and “Armenia Freedom”; An art-thought process that would and will dominate the Armenian art palettes and canvases for ever inside and outside Armenia.

 Photo: Portrait of Catholicos Nerses Ashtaraktsi by Hakob Hovnatanian

Hakob Hovnatanian learned to paint from his father, the master artist Mktum. He was born in cosmopolitan Tiflis which in the 19th century had become a major center for  Armenian art and humanities. As a portraitist, Hakob Hovnatanian was less interested in the physiognomy of the model than in the person himself. He concentrated his attention on the shape and contour of the face, the eyes and the hands, the inner feelings and sentiments of his model.

 

Photo: Portrait of young Akimyan by Hagop Hovnatanian.

In his portraits,  Hovnatanian gradually depicted figures with religious attention to the characteristic traits of the face. The detailed attributes and traits appeared in quasi-triangular form, consciously or un-consciously inspired by the old Armenian portraitures and other drawings  he previously consulted and reviewed in monasteries. Even though it was the very beginning of a modern era for Armenian painting in comparison with and in relation to the Medieval ages of Armenian manuscripts paintings, Hovnatanian who was exclusively taught by one single teacher (His father) reached a quasi-Italian Classical level with vivacity and realism  through the use of various colors tones, shades and lights. This innovative approach to Armenian medieval techniques brought movement and life to his paintings. For the epoch, this technique was quite innovative and revolutionary. There is a strange, intriguing and perhaps intentional sense of space and composition balance in his paintings. For instance, the women he painted are always seated yet,    they appear to us as if they were partially standing or ready to stand up! The boys and the men (religious figures and dignitaries) he painted  have one  hand always rested on their hips.  In many instances, it is always the right hand . Another observation: Watch carefully his paintings. Almost all of hem have one pre-dominant trait in common. It is almost a trade mark (Probably this was intentional on the part of the artist). The painted personage never look straight at you. And if they do, it  is ALWAYS in an unusual angular manner as if they were looking at you from one side of their face! Look again! What a sharp contrast with  previous Armenian painting styles! In previous and medieval Armenian paintings, depicted personages, religious or secular figures, never looked at anybody except at the nearest person who has been intentionally placed by the artist at a very close distance from them, in order to justify and explain the direct relation between the personages.

 

P. 48. History of the Civilization and Arts of Armenia from the Bronze Age to Present. By Maximillien de Lafayette. The Globe Weekly News

 

Photo: Portrait of Nazelie Oerbelian.

Hovnatanian added additional dimensions to his paintings by incorporating objects familiar to the ordinary person. Real objects free from symbolism and religious surrealism such as, belts, books,  handkerchiefs, rosaries, a section of an armchair. These objects extended the landscape of the space of the painting and brought familiarity to the paintings. They participated in the movement of the strokes and established a direct rapport with the personages. This is another innovation in Armenian art. Previously, objects or tools depicted in medieval Armenian paintings represented a symbol. For instance, the stars in a medieval painting or in an illuminated manuscript represented the church, the jar symbolized a religious ceremony, an extended hand from a saint of a holy person meant a benediction or a blessing.  This is not the case in Hovnatanian work. As the folks in America frequently say: “You get what you see and you see what you get.” The more you look at his paintings, the more you understand about his innovative art. For instance, the use of new vibrant and multi-faceted shades of colors creates harmony, balanced lines and conveys a feeling of grandeur, a certain Italian Renaissance flair without being Classical. Soft lines, gently determined contours and the incorporation of easily identified domestic and familial tools and objects add warmth to the composition, pleasant familiarity, a direct rapport and romanticism. The position of his personages is traditional and conventional accentuated by a pyramidal composition  which tends to stretch the personages toward the upper level of the painting. Is this a déjà vu experience  from El Greco’s silhouette paintings? For this representation of figures is an intentional static equilibrium and aesthetic balance which enhance a chromatic and linear construction, thus conferring upon his portraits an additional dimension of grace and spirituality.  But, despite all these new visions, sharp contrast with the colors of medieval Armenian illuminated manuscripts and despite this very dominant freedom of expression in meticulously reproducing facial expressions, despite all these characteristics of a totally brand new style of painting, Hovnatanian remained a pure, traditional Armenian artist with candor and almost religious loyalty to his predecessors ethnic tradition; A national Armenian  artistic tradition. By the same token, Hovnatian brought national ethnic Armenian painting to the level of classic conceptualism, thus remaining the last of the traditional and conservative authentic Armenian master painters and becoming the first modern Armenian painter of a new era, new artistic concept and most certainly a new sphere of realistic art of unexplored dimensions.

AIVAZOVSKY: ARMENIA’S GREATEST ARTIST

THE FIRST MASTER OF THE ARMENIAN MODERN PAINTING ERA (1817-1900)

Ivan Aivazovsky. The Tenth Wave, 1850. Oil on canvas. The Russian Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia.

Konstantinovich Aivazovsky was born in the town of Feodosia in Crimea to a poor family of Armenian  merchants.  His spent his childhood in absolute poverty. At a very early age, he displayed an amazing artistic talent. This. prompted friends of the family to send him to Simpheropol Gymnasium, a modest school offering almost a rudimentary curriculum. His artistic talent caught the attention of his teachers who used all means and resources to send him to the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts; a prestigious art school, where remarkable and extremely very-well known Russian artists and painters taught arts, painting, sculpture and various visual arts. Only  the best of the best of Russian aspiring and accomplished artists qualified to enter the academy. And Aivazovsky was one of them. At the academy, Aivazovsky excelled in landscape painting and especially in marine landscape painting. In the autumn of 1836, Aivazovsky  participated in a collective art exhibition organized by the academy. He submitted five paintings. All five paintings have been accepted and proudly displayed by the curator of the exhibition. In 1837, he entered a major art juried competition and captured the first place. The academy awarded him the “Gold Medal Award” for  two paintings he submitted: “Calm in the Gulf of Finland” and “The Great Roads at Kronstadt, both painted in 1836.

 

P. 49. History of the Civilization and Arts of Armenia from the Bronze Age to Present. By Maximillien de Lafayette. The Globe Weekly News

 

The director of the academy and two art teachers who taught him the marine landscape courses arranged for him an  academic scholarship which allowed him to pursue his art studies in Italy. In 1840, he left Russia and headed toward Italy. One year later, he traveled to France, Spain, The Netherlands and Germany to attend art seminars conducted by illustrious European masters. Aivazovsky spent a total of four years in Central Europe. Wherever he went, he was warmly and admirably welcomed by apprentices, teachers, accomplished artists, as well as by the greatest painters of the era such as the French great Master Eugene Delacroix, who once said “Aivazovsky is the grand master of the marine landscape painting.”