Hovsep Pushman

Hovsep Pushman was born in Armenia, 1877. In 1888, Pushman began art studies at the Imperial School of Fine Arts in Constantinople. He immigrated to the US in about 1894 and settled in Chicago, where he further studied at the Art Institute of Chicago. In 1910, he traveled to Paris, where he was a pupil of Lefebvre, Robert-Fleury and Dechenaud at Académie Julian. Leaving France, Pushman toured the Orient and was introduced to the oriental subject matter that was to become his forte. After his return to Chicago, he painted portraits and still life. He was known for his exotic subjects featuring antique objects with oriental motifs, Nubian princesses, or Spanish gypsies. Pushman's paintings had soft lighting and quite often tapestries as backgrounds. During 1916–19, Pushman maintained a studio in the Mission Inn in Riverside, California, and continued exhibiting in Los Angeles throughout the 20s and 30s. Having settled in New York City in 1919, Pushman lived there until his death.