ARMENIAN MASSACRES, GENOCIDE, FREEDOM-FIGHTING AND ARMENIAN ARTISTS

Abstract

The Armenian massacres, Genocide organized in the Ottoman Empire at the end of the 19th century and at the beginning of the 20th century, Armenian-Tatar** (Azeri) clashes in the early 20th century, were real catastrophes for the Armenian people. The loss of the essential part of the historical homeland, deportation and organized mass killings of people, the appearance of thousands and thousands of orphans, the loss of property and cultural monuments, the loss of historical memory were very painful for the survivors during many decades. The armed resistance of the inhabitants of certain cities and villages are heroic pages of the Armenian history of the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century. Numerous Armenian artists portrayed in their artworks the tragic and heroic events of that period. Certain artists miraculously heard the stories of sufferings from refugees, the others miraculously survived escaping arrests, or lost family members, many children saw the deaths of their parents and relatives inside paternal houses or during the death marches in Syrian deserts, and some of those who grew up in orphanages, became artists. Thus, the Armenian massacres, Genocide and national liberation struggle became the subjects of the Armenian painters and sculptors during many decades.