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Edmund Yaghjian

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Edmund Yaghjian
The White Church (1936) by Edmund Yaghjian
Born
Edmund K. Yaghjian

(1903-02-16)February 16, 1903
Harpoot, Armenia (now Elazığ, Turkey)
DiedDecember 2, 1997(1997-12-02) (aged 94)
Columbia, South Carolina, U.S.
EducationRhode Island School of Design (BFA), Art Students League of New York
SpouseDorothy Candy (m. ?–1980)
Children4, including Candy Waites

Edmund Yaghjian (1903–1997) was an Armenian-born American visual artist, and educator. He is known for his life drawing, and paintings of city scenes and landscapes. Yaghjian taught at the Art Students League of New York and at the University of South Carolina.

Early life and education

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Edmund Yaghjian was born in February 16, 1903, in Harpoot, Armenia (now Elazığ, Turkey) to parents Sultan (née Ajootian) and Samuel Yaghjian.[1] By 1907, his family moved to the United States during the Armenian genocide and settled in Providence, Rhode Island where they had a small grocery store.[2] He became interested in making art in childhood. Yaghjian naturalized as a U.S. citizen in 1924.[3]

He received a BFA degree in 1930, from Rhode Island School of Design in Providence; and afterwards he took courses at the Art Students League of New York in New York City, and studied under John Sloan and Stuart Davis.[1][2]

He married Dorothy Candy, and they had four children.[4]

Career

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From 1938 to 1942, Yaghjian taught drawing at the Art Students League of New York.[2] In 1945, Yaghjian became the first chair of the art department at the University of South Carolina (USC) in Columbia, South Carolina, and he remained in the role until 1966.[2][5] From 1966 until 1972, he was an artist-in-residence at USC.[6] During the Vietnam War, Yaghjian was one of three professors at USC that signed a petition calling for international peacekeeping and neutrality.[7] Among his students were painter Jasper Johns, and muralist Blue Sky.[8]

Yaghjian's artwork was in three phases, starting with realism, which moved to stylized abstraction, and finally to abstract work.[5] In 2007, a retrospect of his artwork was held at the South Carolina State Museum.[9][5]

He died at age 94 on December 2, 1997, in Columbia, South Carolina.[10][11][6]

His art is in museum collections, including at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City,[12] and the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C..[13]

References

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  1. ^ a b New York by Artists of the Art Students League of New York: In Celebration of the Centennial Year of the Art Students League of New York : [Exhibition] at the Museum of the City of New York, November 3rd to January 4th, 1975–1976 (art exhibition). Museum of the City of New York. New York City: Art Students League of New York. 1975. p. 70.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  2. ^ a b c d "Edmund Yaghjian". The Johnson Collection, LLC. Retrieved March 11, 2025.
  3. ^ "Edmund Yaghjian, Migration • Rhode Island, U.S. District and Circuit Court Naturalization Records, 1802-1945". FamilySearch.org. June 30, 1924.
  4. ^ "Yaghjian". The State. September 24, 2000. p. 78. Retrieved March 11, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ a b c "Edmund Yaghjian: A Retrospective". Traditional Fine Arts Organization, Inc. Retrieved March 11, 2025.
  6. ^ a b "S.C. art innovator Yaghjian dies at 94". The State. December 3, 1997. p. 6, 12. Retrieved March 11, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ Lesesne, Henry H. (2001). A History of the University of South Carolina, 1940-2000. University of South Carolina Press. p. 201. ISBN 978-1-57003-444-2.
  8. ^ "Edmund K. Yaghjian - Biography". AskArt.com. Retrieved March 11, 2025.
  9. ^ "Edmund Yaghjian, A Retrospective" (PDF). South Carolina State Museum. 2007.
  10. ^ "Obituary for Edmund Yaghjian". The State. December 3, 1997. p. 21. Retrieved March 11, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "S.C. art innovator Yaghjian dies at 94". The State. December 3, 1997. p. 6. Retrieved March 11, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ Island of Light, ca. 1943, Edmund K. Yaghjian (American (born Armenia), Harpoot 1903–1997 South Carolina), The Metropolitan Museum of Art, retrieved March 11, 2025
  13. ^ "Edmund Yaghjian". Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM). Retrieved March 11, 2025.
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