Jean Jansem was a French-Armenian painter. Known for his washy representational paintings of nude women, still lifes, and figures, Jansem painted with a variety of media that included gouache, watercolor, ink, and oil in a stylized and textural aesthetic.
Born on March 9, 1920, in Bursa, Turkey, he fled his home country and Greece in his early childhood, eventually settling in Paris, where he began to paint.
Bolstered by study at the Ecole des Arts Decoratifs in the 1930s, his early work was concerned with his shifting national identity and uniquely global outlook.
Jansem’s work received critical attention throughout his career, garnering honors like induction into the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 1953, a knighthood by the French Legion of Honour in 2003, and reception of a Medal of Honor from the President of Armenia in 2010. He died in Paris, France on August 27, 2013.
Taken From: Nouné Yeranosian
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