Canadian artist Armand Tatossian was born in Egypt in 1948 and immigrated to Montreal with his family in 1960. Tatossian’s grandfather was a curator at the Alexandria National Museum of Egypt and artist as was his great uncle Yeghiche Tatossian.
In 1965, he dedicated himself to painting full time which allowed him to travel, study and exhibit his work on a global scale. His education in the arts was lengthy and international; he studied under the Serbian sculptor Jose Majzner, received instruction from Adam Sheriff Scott from 1966 to 1969 and attended art history classes at McGill University from 1967 to 1969. He was trained in mural painting in Italy in 1970, studied with Jean Carzou in Paris in 1971 and painted with Jean Paul Riopelle in 1975.
In 1973, Tatossian became the youngest member accepted into the Royal Canadian Academy. Since then, he has exhibited in North America, Europe, Asia, and his works can be found in the collections of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, the National Gallery of Canada and the Musée National des Beaux-Arts du Québec, among others.
Tatossian, strongly influenced by the Group of Seven, adopted the technique of painting “en plein air” as to achieve a more sincere portrayal of his subjects. In 1970, Tatossian travelled to Greece, where he was inspired by the vibrant colours of the countryside. Onwards, he would concentrate on the elements of colour, shadow and light, creating an expressive and intense composition.
