VALERIY GEGAMYAN (1925-2000) Woman in traditional dress

oil on paper signed and located in pencil in Cyrillic ‘Gegamyan, Odessa, Primorskiy bld, d. 2’ (on the reverse) 35 x 24 cm Valeriy Gegamyan was an Armenian-born Ukrainian painter, graphic artist and teacher. Born in Garni, Armenia, he studied at the Yerevan Art College and at the Yerevan Art Institute under the renowned Armenian painter Martiros Saryan. From the early 1960s, he lived and worked in Odesa, where in 1964 he founded the Art and Graphic Faculty of the Odesa Pedagogical Institute and served as its dean. Known for his expressive painting, drawing and large thematic cycles, Gegamyan developed a distinctive artistic language and played an important role in the Odesa artistic milieu. He rarely exhibited during his lifetime, and his work received wider recognition after his death. faisant référence à ses albums de 1971–1972, constitue un rare témoignage artisanal de cette contre-culture alors interdite. La signature de l’artiste, ‘ VICTOR PRODUCTIONS’, associée au logo Playboy Bunny, symbole occidental particulièrement controversé, témoigne d’une volonté de s’approprier les références de la culture populaire occidentale. Elle s’inscrit dans l’esprit ironique et anti-establishment du mouvement artistique non conformiste d’Odessa de 1972–1973.