Martiros Manoukian (Born 1947) Armenian/American, Embellished Serigraph. Abstract feminine figure with mixed media additions to the print. Signed bottom left in gold-colored ink. Number 110/120. Label on the back from Wind Norwegian, dated 11/18/2000 with artist, medium, and title: "Tender Memories." 

Overall Size: 33 x 34 1/2 in. 

Sight Size: 20 x 26 1/2 in. 

Martiros Manoukian was born on August 5th, 1947 in Armenia (then the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic). From an early age he was inspired to paint, and entered the Academy of Art in Yerevan in 1967. After graduating he moved to Russia and studied in Moscow and Leningrad, exhibiting with other local artists from the fringes of the Soviet Union. At just 26 years of age he was admitted to the USSR Union of Artists, and returned to Armenia in 1972 for his first solo exhibition in Yerevan. Despite his widespread popularity, his rebellious nature and self-expression led to regular incidents with the KGB, although he routinely was rescued from these interrogations by high level government officials who appreciated the great fondness he displayed in his works for both Armenian and Soviet culture. He traveled throughout Eastern Europe holding yearly exhibitions up until 1987, when he defected to the West and emigrated to the United States. His current whereabouts are unknown, and he rarely gives interviews, but he continues to paint to this day, represented by Park West and other influential galleries throughout the U.S. since the 2000s. He is considered one of the most influential Armenian artists of his generation, incorporating his Russian Orthodox faith and homages to his home country as well as his adopted one with his unique mixed media style referred to as Marmillism (or sometimes Martiros Millennialism).