Arthur Pinajian
Landscape, New York
1974

About the Item

Untitled, Landscape Belport New York. Archived number 619. Oil on Canvas. Back of the canvas is signed and stamped . The Pinajian estate certificate of authentic is included. THE PINAJIAN DISCOVERY: AN ARTIST’S LIFE REVEALED At one time destined for destruction in the town dump on the order of its creator is a body of artwork that has gained international attention from articles in the New York Times, The Telegraph and wsj, and from segments on ABC’S "20-20" newsmagazine and also on “Good Morning America” daily show which proclaimed the Pinajian collection, “The unlikely discovery that has rocked the art world.” 03/10/13 Rarely do we discover a worthy artist who works alone and unheralded. Arthur Pinajian (1914-1999) was one of them. He drew and painted in obscurity until his death in 1999 at the age of 85. Pinajian was a native of Union City, New Jersey. He started as a cartoonist in the 1930s and found considerable success fashioning comic strips for Quality, Marvel, and Centaur Comics. After World War II, where he earned the Bronze Star for valor, he rejected commercial art, attended the Art Students League in New York, and committed himself to the pursuit of serious painting. In 1999, Arthur Pinajian died an unknown artist whose obsession with art—creating it, thinking about it, writing about it—had consumed his life. He devoted himself to art and created thousands of works on canvas, paper and any other surface on which he could paint or draw. When he died, he left behind stacks of canvases in a dirt-floor garage and the attic of his sister’s home in Bellport, Long Island. The artist had left instructions for his collection to be discarded in the town dump, but, fortunately, Lawrence E. Joseph, the best-selling author of Apocalypse 2012, bought the Bellport cottage in 2006 after Pinajian’s sister died and rescued the collection just in time. About twelve years ago, Professor William Innes Homer (1929-2012), the former Dean of the Association of Historians of American Art, was asked by Joseph to examine the large collection of art he came into possession. Dr. Homer was stunned by what he found: “a large body of extraordinary abstract landscape and figurative paintings by a highly gifted artist who was completely unknown in his lifetime”. Soon a team of art historians were conducting research into the life and art of Arthur Pinajian. Dr. Homer concluded: “ultimately Pinajian’s work reflects the soul of a flawed, yet brilliant, artistic genius. When he hits the mark, especially in his abstractions, he can be ranked among the best artists of his era . . . His life is, above all, a model for those who feel that they must follow their calling despite a lack of public acceptance.”

Creator:
Arthur Pinajian (1914 - 1999, American)
Creation Year:
1974
Dimensions:
Height: 30.5 in (77.47 cm)Width: 41 in (104.14 cm)Depth: 1.5 in (3.81 cm)
Medium:
Oil
Movement & Style:
Abstract Expressionist
Period:
1970-1979
Condition:
Gallery Location:
La Canada Flintridge, CA
Reference Number:
1stDibs: LU102737686732
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Arthur Pinajian

Arthur Pinajian (1914-1999) Rarely do we discover a worthy artist who works alone and unheralded. Arthur Pinajian was one of them. He drew and painted in obscurity until his death in 1999 at the age of 85. The majority of his work was found after his death stacked up in the one-car garage and attic of his sister’s property. Pinajian, was a native of Union City, New Jersey. He started as a cartoonist in the 1930s and found considerable success fashioning comic strips for Quality, Marvel, and Centaur Comics. After World War II, during which he earned the Bronze Star for valor, he rejected commercial art, attended the Art Students League in New York, and committed himself to the pursuit of serious painting. Prior to his many years in Bellport with Armen, he rented a studio in Woodstock, New York, and there and in West New York, New Jersey, he began to wrestle with the challenges of being a modern artist. This meant painting in a variety of styles ranging from the figurative to the abstract. The word exploration sums up the nature of his quest: he worked in the manner of Impressionism, Fauvism, Expressionism, and Cubism before turning to Surrealism and various modes of abstraction, including Abstract Expressionism. Part of Pinajian’s learning process was to echo the styles of well-known artists — making free copies as a means of perfecting his visual vocabulary. In the end, however, he forged his own style without a heavy debt to others. He also philosophized about the creative process. Found among his effects were numerous journals in which he wrote down his ideas about the making of art. Issues of color, composition, and pattern captured much of his attention. It is noteworthy that he became a veritable It is noteworthy that he became a veritable master of structural color. What is so remarkable about Pinajian is his wholehearted dedication to the process of painting. He pursued his goals in isolation with the single-minded focus of a Gauguin or Cezanne, refusing to give up in the face of public indifference. In his later years he could be compared to a researcher in a laboratory pursuing knowledge for its own sake. - Pinajian’s work is uneven, but when he hits the mark, especially in his abstractions, he can be ranked among the best artists of his era. It is satisfying to contemplate his more successful works, doubly so because they capture the excitement of visual modernism and exude a painterly integrity that is rare in our time. - Professor, William Innes Homer New York Times, WSJ.com, London Daily Mail, ABC’s 20/20, Good Moring America, which in 2013 heralded Pinajian as “the unlikely discovery that has rocked the art world”. Stephanie's Art Gallery representing the Pinajian Estate Collection since its discovery.