02 09 2007 - TEHRAN, Aug. 31 (MNA) -- Internationally renowned Iranian-Armenian artist Marcos Grigorian died on August 27 in Armenia. He was 82.

Artist Marcos Grigorian dies at 82
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Marcos Grigorian, who is recognized as a pioneer of Iranian modern art, died from a heart attack at his home. His niece Janet Lazarian said that he will probably be buried in Armenia.

Marcos was born into an Iranian Armenian family which emigrated from Russia to Iran in 1930. After finishing his pre-university education in Iran, he studied at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Rome. In 1954, Grigorian returned to Iran from Rome and opened the Galerie Esthetique in Tehran.

Grigorian’s artworks encompass a wide range of themes; his first paintings depict the violent despair of the victims of Auschwitz. Later, turning to sculpture, his works were dominated by Persian bread, abgusht (a type of Persian soup) and wheelbarrows full of straw.

In 1958, he organized the first Tehran Biennial where artworks by modern artists were displayed. The biennial played a major role in introducing and promoting modern art in Iran.

Grigorian was also fond of teahouse paintings. It was due to his efforts that the works of the prominent teahouse painters Hossein Qollar-Aqasi and Mohammad Modabber were displayed in Tehran.

He is also renowned for his sculptures which he crafted from a combination of clay and straw. These works were created between 1962 and 1970 during the time he lived in the U.S. when he taught at several universities and held exhibitions of his works.

In 1970 Grigorian returned to Iran after having been invited to teach at the University of Tehran’s Fine Arts Academy. He became an influential teacher and taught many prominent artists during his stay in Iran.

In 1975 Grigorian helped organize the group of free painters and sculptors in Tehran and was one of its founder members. Artists Gholamhossein Nami, Masud Arabshahi, Morteza Momayyez and Faramarz Pilaram were amongst the other members of the group.

In 1989, he traveled to Russia at the invitation of the Union of Russian Artists. He visited Moscow, Leningrad and Yerevan, where he took up residence.

He exhibited his clay and straw works in Yerevan in 1991. He later donated 5000 of his artworks to the government of Armenia.

Some of his works are now on display at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, Tehran’s Museum of Contemporary Art, The Museum of Contemporary Art in Kerman, and the Armenian National Gallery.

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