Jean Jansem

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Jean Jansem
Jansem in 2008
Born
Hovhannes Semerdjian

(1920-03-09)9 March 1920
Died27 August 2013(2013-08-27) (aged 93)
CitizenshipFrance
OccupationPainter
Websitewww.jansem.net

Hovhannes "Jean" Semerdjian (

National Academy of Sciences of Armenia
(2002).

He was awarded by the

French Legion of Honour in 2003.[2] The President of Armenia
awarded Jansem a Medal of Honor for his “reinforcement of Armenian-French cultural ties.”

Biography

Jansem in 2010
Self-portrait on a 2020 stamp of Armenia
Man, woman and child on a 2020 stamp of Armenia

Hovhannes Semerdjian was born in 1920 in

Paris, France in 1931 when he was 11 and that is when he begin to paint. The first professional schools for Jansem became free academies of Montparnasse (1934–1936). He studied in the Ecole des Arts Decoratifs
. His teachers were Brianshon, Legjon and Udon. Jansem also studied at the Sabatie studio for a year. Early paintings by Jansem were mainly to national issues. He had individual exhibitions in Paris, New York, Chicago, London, Tokyo, Rome, Brussels, Lausanne, Beirut etc. Hovhannes Semerdjian was elected the President of the Young Artists' Saloon in 1956.[4]

He won the Comparison prize in

Armenian Genocide Museum
.

The act of painting reveals who we are. We are betrayed by what we love.

— Jean Jansem

Jansem’s primary sources of inspiration were

Goya and Brueghel. His mother and his children were the main heroes in his earlier works. Jansem was characterized as a miserablist, an artist of unfortunate people.[5]

On 10 March 2010, the day after Jansem's 90th birthday, during a visit to France, the President of Armenia awarded Jansem a medal of honour saying the following, "Our nation is proud of you and values highly your art. While living outside Armenia, you have made our country more recognizable, extending our nation's good name all over the world."

Jansem died on 27 August 2013, aged 93, outside Paris.[6]

Awards

  • Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (1953),
  • Prix Comparaison (1958, Mexico),
  • prize of the Biennale (1962, Bruges),
  • Panamanian prize «Vahagn» (2002),
  • Mesrop Mashtots Medal
    (2002),
  • Legion d'honneur
    (2003),
  • Medal of Honor (2010, Armenia).

References

  1. .
  2. ^ Jean Jansem profile at artnet.com
  3. ^ Arts Magazine. 54 (1–5): 5. 1979. {{cite journal}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  4. ^ Jansem in Encyclopedia of Armenian Culture. USC Institute of Armenian Studies
  5. ^ Ketsemanian, Varak (29 August 2013) Painter Jansem Dies at 93. Armenian Weekly.
  6. ^ World famous Jansem dies. armenpress.am. 28 August 2013

External links