Haven for Botero Sculptures
Since 2009, the Cafesjian Center for the Arts has been bringing the best of contemporary art to Armenia and presenting the best of Armenian culture to the world. The Center has become the favourite spot of visitors, though the critical reception of some of the sculptures it houses was diverse. The Center offers mostly the selection of important work from the Gerard L. Cafesjian Collection of contemporary art. The collection boasts more than 5000 pieces of art, among them the works by Stansilav Libesnky and Yaroslava Brychhtova. The collections also feature pieces by such outstanding artists as Dale Chihuly, Bohumil Elias, Pavel Hlava, Jaromir Ribak, Ivana Šrámková, Bertil Vallien, Lino Taghliapietra, Mark Peiser, and Hiroshi Yamano. Works by the artists enjoying popularity in the fields of drawing, painting and sculpture, such as Fernando Botero, Arshile Gorky, Jennifer Bartlett, Lynn Chadwick, Barry Flanagan, Jaume Plensa and Francois-Xavier Lalanne add a great value to the collection.
The centre is also famous for its cultural events; it regularly hosts film screenings, lectures, concerts and diverse educational programmes and receives more than one million visitors every year.
Armen Yesayants, Director of Exhibitions in the Cafesjian Center of Arts, in one of his interviews to Aravot.am mentioned that contemporary Armenian artists do not receive the welcome they deserve. It is also hard for them to reach success in Armenia, which is the reason why so many artists leave the country. “I would list Tigran Tsitoghdzyan among the contemporary artists but I can hardly call him Armenian, as he is based in New York. In 2015, we had his works on exhibit in his solo exhibition, which was a great success.”
Botero’s sculptures add a special touch to the Center. “The Cat” , “Smoking Woman”, “Roman Warrior”, whose large exaggerated volume, representative of criticism, sarcasm or humour might have initially seemed alien to people later proved to be kin. Today we can watch not only tourists but also locals posing beside these sculptures. “The Cat” that can be sighted only in three places in the world was even patrolled by “guards” in 2012 to prevent any damage. The Center is one of the major cultural landmarks in Yerevan.
Gallery is not a Shop Dealing in Art
“Arame” Art Gallery located right in the centre of Yerevan (Amiryan 13) has been offering its services since 2003. Aram Sargsyan is the founding director of the gallery. In 2012, the gallery had its second “Mashtots Branch” opened. “Arame” is the only private gallery in Armenia represented by two branches.
In his interview with Aravot.am, Aram Sargsyan argues that a long-term and mutually beneficial partnership with a team of outstanding artists is the main guarantee of success for the gallery. He sees the mission of the gallery in shaping aesthetic trends in society and exposing people to the highlights in contemporary art.
“Like any private self-sustainable institution, “Arame” does not receive any funding from the government and has to pay taxes. We are also in publishing business. We don’t want a private gallery to be perceived as a shop dealing in art. We are a cultural centre with a key mission to develop a taste, capable of appreciating trends in art. We seek to showcase the best of the fine arts”, says the founder of the gallery and adds that that the gallery features the works by the most distinguished Armenian artists and sculptors, whose art is on exhibit in state museums in Armenia, particularly in Modem Art Museum. “A lot of international visitors come to our gallery to see Armenian art. Unlike museums, we don’t charge an entrance fee, as we do realize that people visit us not only to buy art but also to see and admire it.”
The gallery’s founding director says that though they extend development opportunities to talented young artists, they remain scrupulous in selection. “In such a small country, as ours where the population reaches 3 million, there are around 800 painters, most of who are members of the Artists’ Union in Armenia. Unofficial data suggest that there are about 2000 artists living in Armenia. This is a huge number. Most of them are talented painters, who cannot afford to hold their own exhibitions. Some artists exhibit their work in Vernissage, where they can also find buyers. We do maintain strict selection guidelines, as physically we can’t manage to work with every single painter. We have about 30 partners, but we are on lookout for talented young artists, who we can promote. We publish books, illustrated catalogues which we share with diverse museums and art collectors. We also host group expositions and solo exhibitions in Armenia and abroad. For instance, two years ago we hosted an exposition with the strapline “New Talents” targeting talented young artists. After the exposition, we published an art catalogue, where we included some of their works.”
To our question about the problems that private galleries usually experience, Mr. Sargsyan responded: “Problems are not merely related to private galleries, they are representative of the whole country. With the development of the economy, the population can start affording things, private galleries will thrive and new ones will open. My research shows that there are only 5-6 private galleries in Armenia and all of them are located in the capital city. There are no private galleries in Gyumri the second largest city in Armenia. I’d also like to mention that the idea of five or six galleries for a capital city sounds ridiculous, when streets in European countries boast a procession of private galleries. Overall, everything depends on the economy. I wish private galleries enjoyed more privileges and were not identified with supermarkets or cigarette shops. There should be a differentiated approach in the tax field as well. What I mean is that people visit a private gallery mostly to look at art and very few people buy art, as they cannot afford it.” During our conversation, A. Sargsyan made a reference to these expositions in Yerevan, where art and gastronomy intersect. People can admire works of art over a glass of wine or champagne. Responding to our question why “Arame” wouldn’t follow that trend, he said: “These kinds of centres try to achieve their self-sustainability by extending their scope of activities. My approach is that a gallery space should be designated for a gallery.”
Phenomenon of “Galentz” Museum
“Galentz” museum in Yerevan is the prototype of private galleries in the Former Soviet Union. The museum was opened to mark the 100th anniversary of Harutyun Galentz, a famous Armenian painter. The museum was opened due to the efforts of the painter’s family, his wife, Armine Galentz and sons, Saro Galentz and Armen Galentz, whose private collections were also included into the museum expositions. The museum was initially planned to be opened in 1967, a year after the death of Harutyun Galentz, but the project took longer. The painter’s wife, Armine Galentz, organised the permanent exposition of the artist’s works in his studio, something that was unprecedented for those years.
Larisa Katasanova, the executive director of “Galentz” cultural foundation and Saro Galentz’ wife, says: “Galentz Museum was a private project initiated by Saro Galentz and Armen Galentz. I would call this a heroic act. We are happy to have built a museum, which differs from a traditional one with a director, research workers, a conventional structure, scheduled expositions, etc. There was a time when Armine Galentz following a range of meetings and negotiations realized how challenging it would be to create a museum on the state level. With the help of her friends, she built the second floor on top of the artist’s studio. It was here that on 7 May, 1968, on the anniversary of the artist’s death, she announced the news of permanent exposition.
The new gallery also housed her studio. Visitors could admire Harutyun Galentz’ art and talk to Armine Galentz about art. Our work is the outcome of this gallery. Today, the museum occupies two floors in the house where the members of the Galentz family live. The exposition organisers are the family members themselves. This indeed is phenomenal.”
Mrs. Katasanova calls “Galentz” museum a vibrant, mobile and experimental space, where artists do not have a meagre representation and visitors are warmly welcomed. “The recent seven years have been rich in networking opportunities and interesting communication. The museum possesses an air of unique interactivity; visitors to the museum are welcomed by Saro Galentz, who answers their questions about art. When it is possible, the visitors even go down to the studio, where Armine Galentz used to work, visit the garden and check the trees planted by the Kalents couple in the 40-s. We are different and unique. Galentz family have always dreamed of an environment, where visitors could be directly exposed to their art. Saro Galentz has cherished this idea for years and today the museum enjoys the status of a cultural foundation, which supports the institution’s activities of almost limitless scope”.
We also asked Larisa about the merits and challenges of private cultural centres. “We have set a model for all those families with cultural heritage resources, we taught them how to manage these resources. Ours was the first private initiative that was not funded by the government. Along with outstanding experience, we introduced the culture of expositions to Armenia. Unlike other museums, we are in close partnership with other cultural institutions, for instance, the Cafesjian Center of Arts. Armenia, unfortunately, lacks the experience of inter-museum communication, whereas there is a rich potential for interesting joint projects. To the best of my knowledge, inter-museum relations are valued only by Cafesjian Center of Arts, our museum and Yervand Kochar Museum. The expositions we have hosted over the past seven years were based not only on our collections but also the works by contemporary artists. We also intend to work with museum collections.”
The executive director of “Galentz” cultural foundation is convinced that private museums tend to enrich the field of arts in the country and build new ways of communication with the visitors, as in their working space they are not bound by the constraints imposed on state museums.
It is with regret that Larisa Katasanova notes the need for qualified archiving specialists and experts in the field of art management. “Art management is a hard task and does not imply pure commercialization and consumerization of arts. This kind of work requires a lot of investment in terms of energy and efforts. There are a lot of artists, whose cultural heritage needs to be studied and introduced but we lack archiving specialists. Cultural heritage resources can’t be conserved in flats and houses. They should be on display in museums and reputable galleries. It is both interesting and hard to own and manage a museum. The Ministry of Culture in Armenia has been our partner and has made its contribution to the museum by covering utility costs or by procuring frames for the graphic works by Armine and Harutyun Galentz. However, the ministry has its own financial problems and it is the responsibility of the state to create conditions and potential for investments in art. We need an investment fund and laws that would address these problems in Armenia. For instance, the Galentz family had their house-studio converted into the museum, whereas there are heirs of artists who live in the flats with pictures lined on top of each other, as museum construction implies huge costs.”
Palette of the European Art
Most of the private galleries in Europe can compete with great museums in terms of collections and number of visitors. Laura Cumming, a famous art critic, has recently reviewed some of them.
Designed by the architect Jean Nouvel in 1994, the Cartier Foundation, exhibits exclusive pieces of contemporary art from private collections. A creative space for modern artists, the Cartier Foundation regularly hosts expositions, film screenings and performances that are attended by a large number of visitors.
Punta della Dogana is an art museum in Venice that exhibits artworks from the François Pinault Foundation, one of the largest collections of contemporary art in the world. The museum is funded by French billionaire and art collector, François Pinault. Japanese architect Tadao Ando designed the exhibition hall in a special format for it to house large installations by such artists as Rachel Whiteread, Maurizio Cattelan, Takashi Murakami and Carl Andre.
Museum De Pont is a contemporary art museum in Tilburg, Netherlands. The museum is housed in the former wool-spinning mill and had been named after the attorney and businessman J.H. de Pont. During Nazi occupation, his efforts to protect his customers led to his imprisonment. When he was released from prison, he dedicated his life to defending the rights of war victims and also committed himself to deciding the fate of the wool-spinning mill in his native city. Jan de Pont thus founded a foundation of contemporary art. The collection first included works by Bill Viola and Gerhard Richter and was later replenished with works by Sophie Calle, Richard Long and other artists.
Basel in Switzerland prides itself on the Beyeler Foundation. Ernst Beyeler, a famous art dealer, had bought paintings by Picasso, Degas and others for his private collections. In 1970, he co-founded Art Basel and in 1997 the Beyeler Foundation opened its doors.
The private collection of Catalonian businessman is housed in Francisco Godia Foundation and includes works of artists from 17th to 20th centuries, among them Picasso, Miro and Tapies. All these masterpieces, along with unique medieval statues and portraits are on exhibit in one of the most prestigious districts in Barcelona, Eixample.
The admission fee for these private galleries ranges from 6 to 15 Euros, which is incomparable to the aesthetic pleasure they convey.
Gohar HAKOBYAN
