Actor Vardan Petrosyan's post:
"1968 was the number. I am nine years old. For the first time, my father took me to the house of artists, to the solo exhibition of Minas Avetisyan. My first shock from art. I saw Minas up close. Very close up. My God, what a handsome man he was... In my childish imagination, the ideal image of an artist. with a beard, a beret, only a scarf and a pipe were missing. Minas had opened the tripod and was painting his own picture, which was displayed on the wall. It was "The Crucifixion" that was later burned with other paintings when his studio caught fire. I stood behind him, stunned and petrified, and watched him draw. Suddenly, he got up, approached the real picture hanging on the wall and started painting on it. I will never forget this...
I remember so well that I can even show which part it is on the saved photo of that canvas. My first shock was from great art... at the artists' house. Then, already a student of Terlemezyan art school, we visited the artists' house several times a week. We did not miss any exhibition. We closely studied the canvases, the brushstrokes, admired the artists, the way they stood, smoked, talked... and thought: "We will grow up and surpass you."
There I saw Yervand Kochar up close... in the house of artists, for us in that sanctuary. Today, the Prosecutor's Office of the Republic of Armenia wants to expropriate the Union of Artists through a closed court process, confiscating from it the House of Artists, which is its property confirmed by the cadastre, as well as a number of other objects. By the way, the case also concerns the unions of writers, composers, and architects.
Unfortunately, not being a member of the Union of Artists (in 1987 I was rejected twice, not because I was so pro-Soviet), I do not have a good idea of the relationship between the government and the creative union, what was illegally sold, what was done corruptly during these years, and why the culprits until now? they have not been punished yet, but I am sure that in this case, the government should not allow this illegal expropriation. In the very center of the cultural center of the city of Yerevan, next to the theater and cinema, it is a great honor to have such an elegant, active exhibition hall with a great cultural past and traditions. Any big city would be proud of such an opportunity."
