An Armenian painter, born in 1920 in Seuleuze near Constantinople.

To escape persecution, his family lived in Salonika, Greece from 1923 to 1930. In 1931, he came to France and began to paint. At the age of 14, he took painting classes at the École du Soir de Montparnasse [Montparnasse night school], and later in 1936, he enrolled at the École des Arts Décoratifs de Paris [Paris School of Decorative Arts] from which he graduated in 1938. With his strongly independent nature, he attended various workshops including the Grande Chaumière, where he met artists with whom he struck friendships.

While exercising various professions, fabric design and cartoon creation, he worked on his paintings and exhibited his first painting at the Salon des Indépendants [Exhibition of Independent Artists] in 1939.

At the beginning of his career, he painted scenes from Armenian life, he then moved on to group paintings on more general themes reflecting the solitude and sadness of the human condition.

His held his first solo exhibition in 1951 at the Galerie Doucet in Paris and many others followed. As his career become international in 1957, he exhibited in Italy, Switzerland, England and most of all in the United States (Galerie Hervé from 1954 to 1963, Galerie Maurice Garnier from 1965 to 1977, Wally Findlay Gallery in New York, Lefevre Gallery in London, Tamenaga and Mitsukoshi Galleries in Japan, La Feluca in Rome, and the Museum of Palermo).

In 1969, Mitsukoshi presented a retrospective of his work in Tokyo, and since then his work has been exhibited regularly in Japan. Two museums are dedicated to him in Tokyo (Ginza Jansem Museum) and in Azumino (Azumino Jansem Museum).

His work revolves around the famous series of “Markets” 1953, “Processions” 1955, “Corrida” 1962, “Venice” 1967, “Dance” 1970, and “Masquerades” 1977. Since 1978, his works are exhibits permanently at the Galerie Matignon in Paris.

From 1978, he exhibited at the Galerie Matignon. In 1992, the city of Nagoya in Japan dedicated a museum to him. In 2002, he travelled to Armenia for the official opening of his “Massacres” exhibition at the Genocide Museum in Yerevan. He was awarded the “Mesrop Machtots” distinction from the President of the Republic of Armenia. In 2003, he was appointed to the rank of Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur [Knight of the Legion of Honour].

He died ten years later at his home in Saint-Aignan-sur-Cher on 27 August 2013.

Frédéric Fringhian