Paintings of four renowned artists of Armenian heritage will be on exhibit in Los Angeles

PanARMENIAN.Net - Jean Carzou, Edgar Chahine, Jean Jansem, and Leon Tutundjian are household names in the European and Armenian art worlds.  On Friday, November 13, at a special reception at Stephanie's Art Gallery in La Canada, CA which is celebrating its tenth anniversary this year, their legendary artworks - oil paintings, watercolors and drawings - will be on display.   The exhibition will continue on Saturday, November 14, and Sunday, November 15. 

This is the very first time that the paintings of these four renowned artists will be on exhibit in Los Angeles by Stephanie's Art Gallery which has been collecting their masterpieces over the years.   



Jean Carzou born Garnik Zouloumian in Aleppo, Syria, 1907, first started as a theater decorator in Paris, France.  In 1938, more than a hundred exhibitions of his works were organized throughout France and abroad.  His works have been included in the ballets of Roland Petit, the French Opera, and the La Comedie Francaise.  In 1949, he was awarded the coveted Hallmark prize. 



Edgar Chahine born in Venice, Italy in 1874, spent his youth in Constantinople.  Moving to Paris in 1895, his selective and honest portrayal of the petite bourgeoisie through his prints, etchings, drypoints and aquatints, provide a compelling portrait of an era.  Chahine is also well known for his delicate landscapes and seascapes, reminiscent of the legendary Whistler.  He is also highly regarded for his prints of Venice.  In a 1942 fire and flood, many of this artist's works were destroyed. 



Jean Jansem, an acclaimed French artist, began drawing at a young age.  Studying at the illustrious L'Ecole des Arts Decoratifs, he was famed for his figurative style which most often depicted women. Jansem's artworks are internationally known, and are part of museum collections throughout France and the United States. 



Leon Tutundjian, born in Amasia, and rendered an orphan during the Armenian Genocide, spent his youth fleeing from city to city to escape the atrocities.  While studying at Constantinople's School of Fine Arts, he was sent to a Greek orphanage, then to Venice, and finally to Paris where he became well known as an accomplished violinist and painter.  Experimenting in various styles, he became acclaimed as one of the original surrealists of the 1920's.  Tutundjian's still-lifes are poignant and often disturbing visions of his buried past, reflecting the horrors of his childhood during the Armenian Genocide.