The still Life “My Ceramics” was painted by artist Mariam Aslamazyan in 1989. In the painting, she depicted ceramic items that she created herself.
At the top of the shelf stand several jugs with handles, candlesticks with floral designs and statuettes. Three dishes hang at the bottom: two feature painted portraits of women and the third — images of traditional Mediterranean vegetables.
Mariam Aslamazyan was a representative of the Armenian school of decorative-planar still life. There were practically no female artists in Armenia before her and generally, it was a rare phenomenon in the Soviet Union at that time. Aslamazyan managed to solve an important problem of her time: she was able to define the role of a female artist in the patriarchal Armenian society.
Mariam Aslamazyan was born in 1907 in the village of Bash-Shirak in Armenia. She received her secondary education in Alexandropol (presently — Gyumri). She studied at the Leninakan Art Studio and graduated from the Yerevan Art-Industrial School. In 1928–1930, Aslamazyan studied at the Russian State Artistic-Technical Institute (Vkhutein), then she entered the Leningrad Institute of Proletarian Fine Arts, where she studied under Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin and Alexander Savinov.
Before the war, Mariam Aslamazyan painted landscapes, portraits, interior works, but most of her paintings were lost during the siege of Leningrad. During the war, she worked on propaganda posters and a series of paintings on heroic themes.
In the postwar years, Aslamazyan developed an interest in still life, she particularly enjoyed depicting flowers. During this period, she was influenced by Armenian and Soviet painter Martiros Saryan. He created a new, bright and life-affirming style, which differed from the old monotone Armenian painting. Aslamazyan joined this school.
In addition to painting, she also worked in applied arts. In 1958, she discovered ceramics as an artform for herself. Aslamazyan said that she was drawn to this material unexpectedly, but “wanted to do more and more things”. Having studied traditional methods of working with clay, Mariam Aslamazyan sought and invented her own ways of painting and firing, as, one can see, for instance, in her series of ceramic portraits on dishes. In her ceramics, the artistic qualities of the pieces were more important than the practical purpose.
Aslamazian’s work was also influenced by her trips to Europe, Africa, South America and Asia; she visited more than two dozen countries, including the Congo, Madagascar and Argentina. She very much enjoyed depicting old men and women, ordinary people engaged in simple everyday activities: working, resting, having fun and honoring their traditions.
Mariam Aslamazyan died in 2006 in Moscow. Today the artist’s works are housed in 40 museums of the former Soviet Union and abroad, including the Tretyakov Gallery.
At the top of the shelf stand several jugs with handles, candlesticks with floral designs and statuettes. Three dishes hang at the bottom: two feature painted portraits of women and the third — images of traditional Mediterranean vegetables.
Mariam Aslamazyan was a representative of the Armenian school of decorative-planar still life. There were practically no female artists in Armenia before her and generally, it was a rare phenomenon in the Soviet Union at that time. Aslamazyan managed to solve an important problem of her time: she was able to define the role of a female artist in the patriarchal Armenian society.
Mariam Aslamazyan was born in 1907 in the village of Bash-Shirak in Armenia. She received her secondary education in Alexandropol (presently — Gyumri). She studied at the Leninakan Art Studio and graduated from the Yerevan Art-Industrial School. In 1928–1930, Aslamazyan studied at the Russian State Artistic-Technical Institute (Vkhutein), then she entered the Leningrad Institute of Proletarian Fine Arts, where she studied under Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin and Alexander Savinov.
Before the war, Mariam Aslamazyan painted landscapes, portraits, interior works, but most of her paintings were lost during the siege of Leningrad. During the war, she worked on propaganda posters and a series of paintings on heroic themes.
In the postwar years, Aslamazyan developed an interest in still life, she particularly enjoyed depicting flowers. During this period, she was influenced by Armenian and Soviet painter Martiros Saryan. He created a new, bright and life-affirming style, which differed from the old monotone Armenian painting. Aslamazyan joined this school.
In addition to painting, she also worked in applied arts. In 1958, she discovered ceramics as an artform for herself. Aslamazyan said that she was drawn to this material unexpectedly, but “wanted to do more and more things”. Having studied traditional methods of working with clay, Mariam Aslamazyan sought and invented her own ways of painting and firing, as, one can see, for instance, in her series of ceramic portraits on dishes. In her ceramics, the artistic qualities of the pieces were more important than the practical purpose.
Aslamazian’s work was also influenced by her trips to Europe, Africa, South America and Asia; she visited more than two dozen countries, including the Congo, Madagascar and Argentina. She very much enjoyed depicting old men and women, ordinary people engaged in simple everyday activities: working, resting, having fun and honoring their traditions.
Mariam Aslamazyan died in 2006 in Moscow. Today the artist’s works are housed in 40 museums of the former Soviet Union and abroad, including the Tretyakov Gallery.
