Knarik Vardanyan

Knarik Vardanyan was born on 24 November 1914 in Kaftarli village (now known as Panik), Alexandropol uezd, Caucasus Viceroyalty, Russian Empire.[1]

She graduated in 1933 from Leninakan Construction Technical College (now known as Gyumri State Technical College).[1] The following year from 1933 to 1934, Vardanyan worked in Alexander Tamanian's architectural studio as an assistant.[1][6] In 1941, she graduated from Panos Terlemezyan State College of Fine Arts; followed by a graduation in 1950 from Yerevan State Institute of Fine Arts and Theater; and study from 1950 to 1952 in the painting department at the House of Armenian Culture in Moscow, under B. V. Johanson.[1]

From 1942 to 1944, she worked as the main artist in the Hovhannes Tumanyan Puppet Theatre of Yerevan, and helped create a number of performances.[1] Starting in 1950, Vardanyan was a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU). She was married to opera singer Davit Poghossian (1911–2004).[1][7]

Vardanyan painted on the theme of the everyday life of a working man.[1] In the 1960s and 1970s, she started changing her line work and color palette to reflect on nature.[1] She had solo exhibitions in Yerevan (1965, 1978, 1981), Leninakan (1981), Kirovakan (1981), Yeghegnadzor (1982), and Tbilisi (1982).[1] Many of her artworks can be found in museum collections, including an extensive collection at the National Gallery of Armenia.[8]

She died on 25 December 1996 in Yerevan, Armenia.[1]

• List of Armenian women artists