YEREVAN (Noyan Tapan)–A personal exhibition of works by the Archimandrite of the Mkhitar Order of Venice Haroutiun Pztikian was scheduled to open at the Yerevan Modern Art Museum on May 19. The Diasporan painter staged a press conference at the Museum on May 17.
Haroutiun Pztikian considers himself to be a follower of the school of Sargis Pitsak and Toros Roslin. His paintings were put on display in Venice–Milan–Amman–in a number of American cities and were awarded various prizes. In 1965–Pztikian enjoyed the support of Picasso with the help of whom he arranged his first exhibition in Paris. Thereafter–he fully dedicated himself to fine arts. He always remembered about his roots whether in Rome–Paris–Aleppo or Venice where he studied philosophy and other sciences. Pztikian remained faithful to the principle that he must offer liturgies and preach as a clergyman but be a soldier at the same time.
"If we look back at the past–we will see that the great Armenian artists–starting with Mashtots and Narekatsi–came from Van," the painter said. Pztikian believes that Armenian painting has nothing to do with simply depicting Ararat Mountain or Lake Sevan; it is possible to have a French sitter and to present the figure of an Armenian woman. Pztikian thinks that his painting rather reminds of music and is the display of search–dreams–philosophy and the poetic world." To reproduce the world–the artist needs to sink into his inner self–as it is the thesaurus of impressions handed down by our forefathers over centuries–Pztikian emphasized.