THE ART OF
ARTHUR PINAJIAN
No. D101 • 1963 • oil on canvas • 29.75 x 39.75 in.
ARTHUR PINAJIAN
Quiet, friendly, maybe a little intense at times, that’s what neighbors thought of Arthur Pinajian, if they thought about him at all. But a genius? “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,” wrote William Innes Homer (1929-2012). Considered by many to have been the dean of American art historians, Homer was a Princeton graduate, Harvard PhD, and founder and for many years chairman of the art history department at the University of Delaware.
HE CAN BE amo n g t he be st
RANKED artists of his era – William Innes Homer
So if Pinajian was such a talented artist, why haven’t we heard of him? “Even though Pinajian was a creative force to be reckoned with, during his lifetime he rarely exhibited or sold his paintings. Instead, he pursued his goals in isolation with the single-minded focus of a Gauguin or Cézanne, refusing to give up in the face of public indifference. In his later years, he could be compared to a lone researcher in a laboratory pursuing knowledge for its own sake. His exhaustive diaries and art notes make it clear that he dedicated all of his days to his art,” concludes Homer. Pinajian’s predilection for keeping a low profile might have stemmed partly from the fact that his family only narrowly escaped the 1915 Armenian genocide that killed 1.5 million children and adults. During the Great Depression, he worked in New York City as an artist for Marvel and Crack comics. Among the characters he created was Madam Fatal, the first cross-dressing superhero. World War II saw Pinajian drafted into the U.S. Army and decorated with the Bronze Star for his valor in the Battle of the Bulge. Pinajian spent the next half century living with his sister, first in the artist colony town of Woodstock, NY, and then from 1973 until his death in Bellport Village, NY a quaint bayside village on the south shore of Long Island. He sometimes went to the Cedar Tavern, the Abstract Expressionist hangout in Greenwich Village where he talked shop with other New York School painters such as Mark Rothko and Franz Kline. But mostly, he just stayed at home and painted. The New York Times has run several feature pieces about Pinajian. Dozens of other news outlets around the globe such as the Associated Press, both the Telegraph and Daily Mail of London, wsj.com and Fox News cheered the discovery, settling on a consensus estimate of $30 million retail valuation, a figure that has since tripled.
No. 3883 • 1964 • oil on canvas • 29 x 49 in.
No. 3868 • 1960 • oil on canvas • 36 x 50 in.
No. 4377 • 1959 • oil on paper • 27 x 20 in.
HE DE DI CAT ED
all his days TO HI S ART - CHARLES A. RILEY II former editor of Art and Antiques
No. D49 • 1962 • oil on canvas • 26.5 x 48.5 in.
No. 1146 • 1985 • enamel on illustration board • 21 x 27 in.
No. 1900 • 1971 • oil and enamel on paper • 18 x 24 in.
No. 1736 • 1971 • oil and enamel on paper • 18 x 24 in.
No. 1739 • 1971 • oil and enamel on paper • 18 x 24 in.
No. 1698 • 1971 • oil and enamel on paper • 18 x 24 in.
No. 4433 • 1960 • oil on canvas • 25 x 34 in.
No. 1937 • gouache on paper • 20 x 26 in.
No. 1234 • 1987 • oil and enamel on illustration board • 21 x 26.5 in.
No. 100M • 1987 • acrylic on canvas • 25 x 29 in.
No. D106 • 1973 • oil on canvas • 17 x 23 in.
No. 174 • 1984 • oil on canvas • 14.5 x 19 in.
No. 1037 • 1981 • oil on illustration board • 21 x 26.5 in.
CURATOR
ELIZABETH SHAGHALIAN VRANKA Elizabeth Shaghalian Vranka served as the Executive Director of OSilas Gallery at Concordia College (Bronxville) from 2016 to 2021. As Executive Director, Elizabeth was responsible for creating a calendar of diverse, high quality exhibitions and organized or coorganized several of the Gallery’s shows. Elizabeth counts the highly acclaimed Young, Gifted and Black: The Lumpkin-Boccuzzi Family Collection of Contemporary Art, which kicked off its national tour at OSilas Gallery, among the most important exhibitions that she brought to OSilas Gallery. In 2018, Elizabeth worked with Peter Hastings Falk and the Pinajian Collection to present The Pinajian Discovery: An Artist’s Life Revealed, which featured the abstract expressionist works of the talented yet obscure Arthur Pinajian. Prior to being hired as Executive Director, Elizabeth served on the Gallery’s Board of Advisors from 2013, becoming the Board chair in 2015. Elizabeth is a lawyer by training and worked most of her professional career as a Wall Street lawyer. She practiced and lived in New York, Hong Kong and Singapore and lived abroad with her family in London for several years, as well. Elizabeth has served on the boards of several not-for-profit organizations in her community since returning to the United States. Elizabeth has a B.S. from Cornell University and a J.D. from Boston University School of Law. She lives in Bronxville with her husband and children.
ABOUT
J. MACKEY GALLERY J. Mackey brings original works to the Hamptons community. The gallery represents emerging as well as established artists and is committed to fostering the impact art has to aesthetically enhance spaces, provoke thought and stimulate the senses. Reflecting the spirit of the Hamptons as a place of serenity, natural beauty, and vibrant colors, J. Mackey Gallery strives to ensure the artwork represented is accessible to the public while creating an inviting and unique visitor experience and place of reflection.
DETAIL | No. 4431 • 1963 • oil on canvas • 27 x 32 in.
FRONT COVER | No. 4451 • 1988 • oil on canvas • 32 x 48 in.
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BACK COVER | No. 347 • 1982 • oil on canvas • 25 x 29 in.
62 The Circle • East Hampton • NY • 11937 • 917-592-8568 • jm@ jmackeygallery.com • jmackeygallery.com • @ jmackeygallery