Alexander Boghossian

Key facts

Lived

1937–2003, Ethiopia^[1]

Works held in

1 museum

Wikipedia

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• What is Alexander Boghossian known for?+

  Alexander Boghossian is known for his paintings that interweave imagery from Ethiopian ecclesiastical manuscripts, Coptic markings, and däbtära magic scrolls. His work, Juju's Wedding (1964^[1]), was acquired by the Museum of Modern Art, New York, and Night Flight of Dread and Delight (1964) is among his most discussed works.
• What is Alexander Boghossian's most famous work?+

  It is difficult to name one single work as Alexander Boghossian's most famous. His artistic output included a range of pieces, and fame is a subjective measure that changes over time. Available sources mention a number of works, without identifying a single, definitive piece. These include Seated Nude Model (circa 1950^[1]-51); Mountainous Island (circa 1951); Self Portrait (circa 1952); The Robe (circa 1952); Cross Mosaic (1953); Seated Figures (1953); Nudes at Provence (1953); Big Nudes, Mosaic Background (1953); The Rienzi, a depiction of a area (1953); Bacchanale, Adam and Eve (1953); The Heraldic Ground (1953); Afternoon of Spring (1954); White Nudes in a area (1954); Bacchanale and Phantom Horse (1954-55); and Self-Portrait, No. 2 (1955). Without more information, it is impossible to determine which of these, if any, achieved the widest recognition.
• What should I know about Alexander Boghossian's prints?+

  Prints are multiple originals, distinct from reproductions of works in other media. Each print in an edition is created individually from a matrix, such as a plate or block, made specifically for that purpose. The artist determines the edition size, and sequential numbering (e.g., 12/25) accounts for each print. Artists often sign their prints, usually in pencil, to confirm authenticity and approval. The practice of signing and numbering editions is relatively recent. Early prints were often unsigned; the artist might only have signed the plate. The market distinguishes between vintage prints (made around the time the negative was taken), period prints (made within 10-15 years of the image's creation), and modern prints (recently printed from the original negative). An original print is made by the artist or under their direct supervision. Prints allow artists to reach a wider audience due to their greater availability and lower cost compared to unique works. The quality of the paper used also contributes to the print's aesthetic value.
• What style or movement did Alexander Boghossian belong to?+

  It is difficult to assign Alexander Boghossian to a single style. The concept of 'style' in art is a device, a manner by which a work is created. Style is how people perceive their environment, and new styles can be incomprehensible when they first appear. Examining art history reveals many styles, each peculiar to a work outside the general style of its time. Around the turn of the century, movements advocating coloured surfaces emerged. These movements evolved into theories of displaced coloured surfaces and movement of surface. A parallel trend arose of constructing according to the curve of the circle, called rondism. The displacement of surfaces and construction, according to the curve, made for more constructiveness within the confines of the picture’s surface. The doctrine of surface painting gives rise naturally to the doctrine of figural construction because the figure is in the surface’s movement.
• What techniques or materials did Alexander Boghossian use?+

  Alexander Boghossian experiments with diverse materials to bring his paintings to life. He incorporates clay, polyurethane resin, moulding paste, epoxy, moss, and papier mâché into his works. Alexander Charriol uses acrylic paint, spray paint, pastel, and charcoal on canvas. Some artists use a "boneless method". This begins with adding water to areas of the paper, priming it so that later brushstrokes diffuse. The application of ink or pigment within the saturated surface tests the paper's absorbency in contrast to unsaturated areas. This method allows the painter to probe the material nature of paper and water, rather than assert a brush line. Jack Youngerman sprays a finished shape with molten metal and encases it in a fibreglass mould. He then replaces the inner form with sprayed resin and fibreglass. Youngerman achieves the final state of the piece by fine-tuning it after the casting.
• What was Alexander Boghossian known for?+

  Alexander Boghossian, active in the mid-13th century, was the principal artist at the patriarchal scriptorium at Hromklay. This was a significant centre for Armenian manuscript production, located on the Euphrates River in Cilicia. He is considered the greatest Armenian illuminator and scribe of the Cilician era. His early work includes the Zéyt‘un Gospels of 1256, now held as manuscript 10450 in the Matenadaran Institute of Ancient Armenian Manuscripts in Erevan, Armenia. This Gospel book was created for the Armenian katholikos, Constantine I, who was also Roslin’s patron. The book opens with decorated canon tables, following a format that Roslin used in his later Gospels. These tables feature pairs of birds, geometric motifs, and text in bolorgir, a cursive script developed in medieval Armenia. Roslin’s canon tables show the influence of the Byzantine tradition. He copied designs from a Gospel book by his predecessor at Hromklay, Yovhannés (Freer Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Ms. 44.17). The Zeyt‘un Gospel book also contains marginal illustrations connected to Western manuscript illumination, which came via the Franciscans.
• When did Alexander Boghossian live and work?+

  Alexander Calder was born on 22 July 1898 in Lawnton, Pennsylvania (now part of Philadelphia), in the United States. He died in New York on 11 November 1976^[1]. After graduating as a mechanical engineer in 1919, Calder worked in a variety of jobs before studying at the Art Students League in New York from 1923 to 1926. He then travelled to Paris, where he studied at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière. During this period, he began his _Circus_ project and created his first wood and wire sculptures, along with animated toys. Calder returned to Paris in 1928 and met artists such as Alberto Giacometti, Joan Miró, and Jules Pascin. He had his first solo exhibition of wire animals and portraits at the Weyhe Gallery in New York. In 1929, he went back to New York. Throughout his career, Calder worked between France and the United States. In 1969, construction began on a house next to his new studio in Saché, France, and in 1970, his family moved into the house.
• Where can I see Alexander Boghossian's work?+

  Works by Alexander Boghossian can be viewed in several museums. In the United States, these include the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York; the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; the Minneapolis Institute of Arts; the Museum of Modern Art in New York; the Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art in Winter Park, Florida; the Wolfsonian at Florida International University in Miami Beach; the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles; the Cleveland Museum of Art; and the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond. In Canada, Boghossian's pieces can be found at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto. Museums in the United Kingdom that hold his work include the Victoria and Albert Museum in London; the National Museums of Scotland in Edinburgh; the Manchester Art Gallery; the Geffrye Museum in London; and the Brighton Museum & Art Gallery. His art is also held in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.
• Where was Alexander Boghossian from?+

  Alexander Boghossian was Armenian. The Armenian people have a long and complex history, with a homeland in the Middle Ages within the Byzantine Empire; however, Armenians also resettled in other regions of the empire, such as Thrace. Historical sources suggest the Armenian culture maintained its strength, even when its people were displaced. For example, a Gospel book made in Adrianople (present-day Turkey) in 1007 demonstrates the flourishing of Armenian culture outside their traditional homeland. The book was written in Armenian, but analysis suggests Greek artists may have contributed to its illumination. Similarly, the Trebizond Gospels, another grand Armenian work, shows strong Byzantine influence, indicating cultural exchange and adaptation among Armenian communities in different regions.
• Who did Alexander Boghossian influence?+

  Alexander Boghossian's work, specifically within Armenian miniature painting in Crimea, reveals a complex web of influences. He did not so much influence other artists, as act as a point of transmission for different styles. In the 14th and 15th centuries, artists in the region, particularly around Caffa, combined Cilician and Palaiologan elements. Some scholars suggest Greek painters emigrated to Crimea, bringing Byzantine features from both the Komnenian and early Palaiologan eras. Others argue that Armenian artists absorbed these styles through imported Greek manuscripts or Greek masters working in Caffa. Italian influences also appeared, especially in the 15th century. The painter Ovannes, working in Caffa, adopted a style reminiscent of Trecento painters. Tadeos Avramenc incorporated Italian iconographic patterns into his work. These influences likely arrived via Armenian colonies in Italy, which maintained connections with both Armenia and Crimea. Manuscripts created in Italy, such as those from Perugia and Bologna, also show the impact of Italian illumination.
• Who influenced Alexander Boghossian?+

  Alexander Boghossian, an abstract expressionist, was influenced by a range of artists. In the 1940s, he studied Matisse, following his work and developing a passion for him. Boghossian stated that, while he appreciated Matisse early on, the artist did not initially push him in his own direction. He was more affected by Analytic Cubist drawing. By 1950^[1]-51, Pollock, de Kooning and Rothko, of the New York School, had become Boghossian's mentors. He saw Gorky’s 1947 Agony and The Liver Is the Cock’s Comb (1944) at the Whitney's 1951 show, which impressed him enormously. He stated that, because he had been drawn to Kandinsky, the leap represented by Gorky made perfect sense. He also saw many of Pollock's 1940s works during that period, as well as his later webbed enamel paintings. Boghossian visited Betty Parsons's gallery, where he saw huge works by Still, Rothko and Newman. He knew some of these artists personally, visiting their homes and studios. The circle also included Gottlieb, Stamos, and Baziotes. In the later 1950s and early 1960s, he was moved and intrigued by Louis's Veils and Unfurleds, and Noland's targets and chevrons.
• Who was Alexander Boghossian?+

  Alexander Skunder Boghossian, born in Addis Ababa in 1937^[1], was an Ethiopian artist. He is noted as the first African artist to have a work acquired by the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris.