This museum preserves the studio and some of the works of 20th-century painter Martiros Sarian, known for his vibrant colour-saturated canvases. On the 3rd floor, Sarian's work portrays his travels to Egypt, Constantinople and Iran – trips he said ignited his creativity like school never could. The next floor down covers paintings he did in Armenia following independence in the 1920s. Finally, on the ground floor are photos and personal belongings. Staff don't speak English, but the museum is well signed.
Often described as the founder of the national style of painting, Sarian (also spelled Saryan) was born in Russia in 1880 and studied art at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. Wanting to visit the homeland of his parents, he travelled to Armenia in 1901 and completed many paintings of the local landscape on that trip. After returning in 1915 to help refugees who had fled from the massacres in the Ottoman Empire, he relocated to Armenia permanently in 1928 after a two-year stint painting in Paris. Strongly influenced by the work of Henri Matisse and Paul Gauguin, Sarian soon became known for his vibrantly coloured landscapes and portraits. Unlike many of his artistic peers he managed to stay in the good books of his Soviet masters, and was awarded the Order of Lenin three times. He died in Yerevan 1972.
