The paintings of Ani by Arshak Fetvadjian.
At the start of the 20th century Fetvadjian visited Ani in order to paint the ruins. When Nikolai Marr's excavations restarted in 1905 Fetvadjian was also was involved with them.
Fetvadjian's paintings of Ani are factual and literal depictions of the buildings, and are mostly done in watercolour. A book by Fetvadjian titled "Les Ruines de Ani" was published in Venice in 1906. A few years later a large number of his watercolours were published as postcards. Most of these postcards depicted buildings at Ani, a few were of other locations in Armenia, and some were studies of the various races inhabiting Transcaucasia, depicted wearing their national costumes. The majority of the paintings reproduced on this page are taken from old postcards.
As well as his work documenting ancient monuments, Fetvadjian also collaborated with various publishers and writers, and wrote many articles and reviews about Armenian art and architecture. He was also involved in the design and decoration of a number of Armenian churches, including fresco murals inside the St. Gevorg church in Tiflis, and the design of the wooden doors of the St. Grigor church in Kars.
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The artist and art historian Arshak Abrahmi Fetvadjian ¹ was born in October 1866, at Trebizond (modern Trabzon), in Turkey. At Constantinople he studied painting at the State Fine Arts School (also known as the Imperial Academy of Art), graduating from there in 1887. This school was founded in 1883 by the Armenian sculptor Ervand Vosgan (1855-1914), after getting support from Ottoman notables such as Osman Hamdi Bey (1840-1910), the director of Constantinople's Museum of Antiquities. Most of the teachers were foreigners, mainly Italians, and most of the students were non-Turks, the majority being Armenians. Another Ani connection with this school is through Toros T'oramanian (1864-1934), who was a graduate of its architecture department. Fetvadjian also trained at the San Luca Art Academy in Rome (1887-1891). He lived, worked, and studied in Vienna from 1891 to 1895, before moving to St. Petersburg.
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He was in Paris directing the printing of these items when the Armenian Republic fell under the control of the Bolsheviks. Some books incorrectly say that the stamps and notes did not reach Armenia. However, the banknotes do seem to have been entered into circulation in parts of Armenia. The stamps also reached Armenia, although they were not used for their intended purpose: in the 1920s they were overprinted for use as revenue stamps in Soviet Armenia.
During 1919 and 1920 he had paintings exhibited in Paris and London. Fetvadjian later emigrated to America, where he continued to paint and exhibit his works. In New York he produced a portrait of the Madonna and Child for the Armenian cathedral of the Holy Illuminator, as well as supervising the renovation of the building. The photograph of Fetvadjian opposite was taken in New York in the 1920s. He died in Medford, Mass.,
is a watercolour done in 1905 that is now in the National Gallery of Armenia.
Below are some of his views depicting other parts of Armenia: the Tekor basilica;
"Mail at the Hills" also known as "Oriental Mail"; Aragatz mountain; Lake Sevan.
