Armenian culture at U.S. museums

PanARMENIAN.Net - The Ararat-Eskijian Museum was created to enrich, inspire and educate the community through the display of artworks and exhibits, presentation of programs, and collection of research materials, featuring the history and cultural heritage of the Armenian people.

The Museum collects paintings, photographs, textiles, ancient artifacts, books, coins and maps. It encourages the community to contribute historical artifacts and actively participate in the preservation of family history and experiences, as well as sustains programs of research, exhibits, education and publication. It also provides a cultural center that presents interpretive exhibitions, literary events, musical programs and public lectures. The library concentrates on materials concerning the 1915 Armenian Genocide.

The objects displayed at the museum cover the period from the Urartian times till present day. These include coins (ancient, medieval, Byzantine , as well as of the three Armenian republics), numerous documents, maps, photographs, national accessories, carpets, musical instruments, paintings, sculptures.

The Walters Art Gallery in Baltimore holds Armenian manuscripts including nine Gospels (Toros Roslin Gospels “The feeding of the five thousand”, “The Ancestors of Christ”), and two hymnals which span a period from the tenth to the seventeenth centuries. It also exhibits a 1475 manuscript with a cover decorated with silver and semi-precious stones.

The J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles displays Zeytun Gospel dating back to 1256.

The collection of the Freer Gallery of Art in Washington includes 11th century Gospels with bands decorated with foliate and geometric motifs, as well as with birds in roundels, surrounding the first page of Luke.

The Metropolitan Museum in New York holds a large collection (over 100 objects) of Armenian hand-made lace, manuscripts, churchware, rugs, dresses, etc. A decorated woman’s shoe of the 19th century is one of the most interesting showpieces.

Philadelphia Art Gallery displays Armenian carpets and a number of paintings by Hovhannes Aivazovsky and Arshile Gorky. Unfortunately, some of the carpets are presented as Turkish (Anatolian) or just Caucasian.

The American Numismatic Association (ANA) possesses Armenian currency of the Artaxiad (Artashesian) kings Tigranes I, Tigranes II The Great and Artashes II.