National Gallery of Armenia

 Donations of artists, their successors, and collectors have always played a key role in the establishment of the rich collection of the National Gallery of Armenia which has been replenished for over a hundred years. They often include and complete separate monographic collections and help to enrich the museum storages with true masterpieces. In 2021, the National Gallery initiated "Donators and Donations" large-scale project, aiming to present not only the works donated by famous masters but also to highlight the names of the contributors and the importance of their activities in the museum life.

Today, "Donators and Donations" project presents the thematic series of painter Hrachya Hakobyan (1935-1982), and one allegorical composition. The generalized structural solutions and the deep feeling of the sense are the factors characterizing the final stage of his life and give an idea of the artist's achievements. These works make a part of 82 paintings distinguished by their genre and thematic variety, donated by the artist's widow, art historian Vilena Mkrtchyan in 2005 and 2022.

Hrachya Hakobyan was an artist representing the generation of the 1960's, author of severe and, at the same time, symbolic, monumental paintings and graphic works. Because of his untimely death, he could not finish the murals of the foyer of Al. Spendiaryan Opera and Ballet Academic Theater, the series "Crucifixion" and accomplish many other ideas. Therefore, in this regard, the complete monumental-decorative panorama (4 parts) performed in 1977 ordered by the House of the culture of "Masis" shoe factory is worthy of attention. The reserved, still artistic presentation of the voluminous composition makes the usual footwear theme particularly charming. The allegorical composition "Phaeton" (1980), with an outwardly static, expressive colour emphasis, which plays a key role in the art of "Handsome Hrach" and best expresses the artist's emotional inner world and creative pursuits, comes to complement the generalized forms and thinking.

HASMIK BADALYAN

Art historian