A notice from “I require Art” on Facebook made me look at Arman T. Manookian, an American-Armenian painter who lived from 1904-1931. I was immediately attracted by the intensely colourful paintings – maybe in response to my growing dislike of dull winter landscapes with bare trees in this seemingly endless New York winter.

Manookian immigrated to the US as a young man, studied art and illustration and then signed up as a Marine. He later settled in Hawaii, but must have been deeply unhappy, and finally took his own life at the age of 27. I found this very tragic and wondered how the paradisiac scenes in his paintings go along with such a sad story.

Looking at his paintings, I felt like a sponge, soaking up colours to feel alive again.

References

I require art on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IRequireArt

John Seed on Arman T. Manookian in the Huffington Post : http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-seed/the-other-armenian-arman_b_606114.html (accessed March 2, 2104)