The Central Bank of Armenia issued a silver commemorative coin dedicated to the Centenary of Eduard Isabekyan’s birthday.

Eduard Isabekyan (1914-2007) is a prominent Armenian painter, the People s Artist of Armenia.Isabekyan graduated from the Yerevan Art and Industry College, then the Tbilisi Academy of Arts. In 1945- 2000 he served as a lecturer at the Yerevan Fine Arts and Theatre Institute. In 1967-1986 he was Director of the National Gallery of Armenia and established branches of the Gallery in different cities of the country.In 1940-s Isabekyan created paintings that reflected a struggle of Armenian people for national liberation and the Armenians’ heroic spirit: “The Battle for the City” (1942), “Davit Bek” (1945), “Tanya” (1946).

Later, the portraits were the artist’s major obsession – “Portrait of Mother” (1944), “Axel Bakunts” (1956), “Derenik Demirchyan” (1960) and other portraits, which had become a vivid achievement of the Armenian portrait painting.To Isabekyan, landscape painting suggests an epical image of Armenian nature, ancient fortresses and temples. Among his best works are “In the Ravine of Tatev” (1959), “Khndzoresk” (1962), “Under the Shade of the Trees” (1966) and “Byurakan” (1991). These paintings stand out for their expressiveness, dynamic setup and coloring intense. He had great contribution in development of historical genre painting.

The prominent painting are “Revolt of Haghpat Peasants in 1903” (1957), “Artavazd and Cleopatra” (1966), and masterpiece “The Response to Yazdegerd” (1947).Isabekyan takes a particular place in the Armenian art due to his being a multi-genre painter. His illustrations for the historical novels “Vardananq” by D. Demirchyan (1952) and “Mekhitar Sparapet” (1963) by S. Khanzadyan, various graphical pictures and series of graphical works have gained great popularity.In 1985 Isabekyan was honored with a State Prize of Armenia. He had personal exhibitions in Yerevan in 1985 and Moscow in 1988.

Technical characteristics of the coin: mintage 500 pcs, the face value is 100 drams. The coins are made of 925 fine silver; the size is 28.0х40.0 mm and weight—28.28 grams. Colored paints were used for the coin production.

Designed by Haroutiun Samuelian. Minted in the Lithuanian Mint

Source of information: Central Bank of Armenia www.cba.am