Karo Mkrtchyan (Armenian: Կարո Մկրտչյան, 28 March 1951 – 2001) was a well-known Armenian painter and public figure. He was aligned with the avant-garde movement. An independent and freethinker, Karo fled the

USSR The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

's cultural blockade. For much of his life Karo Mkrtchyan lived and painted outside his native USSR.

Biography

Karo Mkrtchyan was born in the Banants village,

Gardman Gardman (), also known as Gardmank' or Gardmanadzor, was one of the eight cantons of the ancient province of Utik' in the Kingdom of Armenia and simultaneously, together with the canton of Tuch'katak, an Armenian principality. It roughly corres ...

Province of Artsakh,

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

. In 1968 he left secondary school. Karo became a member of the Artists' Union of Armenia in 1971 and two years later, in 1973, graduated from the Yerevan State Institute of Art and Drama. In 1981 he was nominated as a member of the Union of Artists of the USSR. He graduated from the Moscow Academy of Painting in 1982. From 1996, Karo was a member of International Association of Artists UNESCO. From 1996 to 1999 he worked in

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at the International Association of Art. Karo Mkrtchyan died in Yerevan in 2001.

Expositions

*Since 1967 in Armenia *Since 1974 in Russia *1980

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*1981 Russia, Moscow *1982 Japan, Tokyo *1982 Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia *1983 Bulgaria, Sofia *1984 Ukraine, Gurzuf *1984 Germany, Norway, Denmark, Hungary, Egypt, Italy, Finland *1985 Russia, Moscow *1985 Ukraine,

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*1987 Spain, Madrid *1989 Russia,

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*1990 India,

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*1994 UAE,

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*1996 France, Paris *1997 UAE, Dubai and in other countries Prizes *1969 The First prize for “Autumn” picture, in the child group of RCP. of Transcaucasia *1978 State prize of Armenia in the nomination “The best work of year” *1983 In the International competition in Sofia, the prize "The best artist" *1983 YCL prize of Armenia *1986 The first prize awarded for painting at the international exhibition in Sofia

Press articles about Karo Mkrtchyan

Armenian and foreign press wrote a lot about Karo Mkrtchyan's life and activity.

Prizes

*First prize for "Autumn" picture 1969 *State Prize of Armenia in the nomination "The Best Work Of Year" 1978 *The international competition in Sofia, "The Best Artist" 1983 *YCL of Armenia 1983 *First prize awarded for painting at the international exhibition in Sofia 1986. Paintings are kept in the National Picture Gallery of Armenia, the

Museum of Modern Art of Armenia A museum is an institution dedicated to displaying or preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private collections that are used by researchers ...

, The Union of Artist of Armenia, in the Fund of the Ministry of Culture of Armenia, the Moscow State Picture galleries, the Art Museum of London, Japan, France, USA and in many private collections.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mkrchyan, Karo 1951 births 2001 deaths Armenian painters