The Irbit State Museum of Fine Arts presents the 1959 engraving “Lake Sevan” by Mger Manukovich Abegyan.

The engraving is based on the original painting created by the artist himself in 1956 and represents a landscape depicting a rock. Most of the composition is occupied by the image of a high-stepped cliff and trees growing at its foot. The top of the cliff has a small medieval temple with a bell tower and outbuildings. Two people on the left are moving deeper into the composition. On the right, there is the river surface with some hills seen on the opposite bank. This is Sevan — one of the most beautiful lakes of the Caucasus and one of the main lakes of historical Armenia. From behind the cliff, white clouds and rays of the sun are seen against the dark sky. Sevan is a high-altitude lake, so the sun shines brightly there, and the weather changes several times a day. The lower left corner features an impression of the artist’s monogram and the year. Under the impression on the right, there is the artist’s signature made in graphite pencil.

Graphics occupy an important place in the artistic legacy of Mger Abegyan, who turned to this form of art in the early 1930s, creating a number of linocuts dedicated to rural life and nature. Despite the meagerness of expressive means, the artist managed to convey the vast expanses of Armenian nature using light and shadow with a ratio of black and white. Here the white is acting as the main source of the nourishing sun, and the black symbolizes the fertile land. The artist’s monumental works seem to take the viewer beyond the canvas. Striking in its contrasts, Armenian nature in Abegyan’s paintings appears majestic and dignified. The magnificent mountains, bathing in sunlight, narrow gorges, and blooming valleys take on an epic meaning. The earth ceases to be just the earth — it turns into a Homeland that, like a mother, feeds and nourishes its people. In this work, the artist combined his subjective perception of admiration for the motherland, and an objective vision of it. The earth emanates epic peace and calm grandeur. The viewer can also feel the expanse of the Armenian land and the creative force of nature.