Ara Sargsian

Ara Sargsyan (Armenian: Արա Միհրանի Սարգսյան; 1902 - 1969) was an Armenian sculptor, People's Artist of the USSR (1963), academic of the Russian Academy of Arts.

Sargsyan was born in the Armenian village of Makri, near Constantinople. He finished the local Armenian school, then Constantinople Art School and studied under the famed Ottoman Armenian sculptor Yervant Voskan. He moved to Athens, Greece in 1920 and further to Rome and Vienna where he studied sculpture till 1925. Sargsyan excelled at Vienna School of Masters.

In 1925 Ara Sargsyan moved to Soviet Armenia.

Most recognizable works of Ara Sargsyan are the monuments of Mother Armenia in Gyumri, Hovhannes Tumanyan and Alexander Spendiarian statues in front of Yerevan Opera house, and the statues of Mesrop Mashtots and Sahak Partev in front of Yerevan State University.

Ara Sargsyan was a prolific teacher and influenced numerous artists, e.g. Rafik Khachatryan (1937-1993).

Sargsyan's house in Yerevan has been converted into a Museum where most of his works are presented.

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