TEHRAN – The London-based Iranian-Armenian painter Edman O’Aivazian passed away from a coronavirus infection at the age of 89 in London, the Persian service of Honaronline announced on Wednesday.

O’Aivazian was admitted to the hospital in London a month ago over his dizzy spells and blood pressure disorders. Fourteen days after, he was transferred into another ward due to a high fever, and finally, he tested positive for coronavirus four days ago.

Some of O’Aivazian’s paintings and architectural designs were showcased in an exhibit entitled “Colors of the Homeland” at Tehran’s Niavaran Cultural Center during September 2016.

He was the sole Iranian member of the Royal Institute of Oil Painters in the UK. His thulth and Kufic calligraphic designs embellish several mosques in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Oman.

Aivazian, who attained his professional education in Europe, had a wide scope of interests in painting, graphic art, architecture and design.

He had made the interior designs for some Armenian churches and public and sacral buildings in Europe, the Near East and Iran.

His works are preserved at the House-Museum of Aram Khachaturian in Yerevan, Armenia, and several other museums around the world.

However, O’Aivazian wanted his paintings to adorn the walls of people’s homes rather than to be kept in the collections of art dealers.

“When you hold an exhibition, you can find your way to people’s hearts and there is no place where you can hide something there,” O’Aivazian had said after opening his exhibition in Tehran.

“An exhibition helps form a connection, and you can get a good lesson from people there that you would otherwise never learn at your work. This is the result of a direct relationship with people,” he had stated.

He had a strong dislike for selling his artworks. “Selling an artwork is like selling one’s own child,” he had asserted, adding “I am financially secure and therefore I prefer my works to be hung on the walls of houses. That way instead of having to dust my paintings, other people do the dusting,” he had remarked.

Photo: Iranian-Armenian painter Edman O’Aivazian in an undated photo.

MMS/YAW