Zaven Arshakuni

Zaven Arshakuni was born in Leningrad in 1932. Surviving the siege of Leningrad as a child, he lost both his parents. In 1961, he graduated from the Repin Institute for Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture, joining the Leningrad Artists’ Union in 1962.

In addition to painting portraits, landscapes, still lifes, genre scenes, and staged compositions, Zaven created set designs for a total of nine productions in St. Petersburg theatres and illustrated six books by St. Petersburg-based poets. Member of the Eleven artistic collective and one of the most prominent artists representing the ‘left wing’ of the Leningrad Artists’ Union, Zaven Arshakuni passed away in St. Petersburg on 2 November 2012.