Ervand Kochar Museum

Ervand Kochar Museum is an important research and propaganda center of historic Avant-garde in the region. Artist and sculptor Ervand Kochar's (1899-1979) creative heritage is one of the most interesting phenomena of the 20th century modern art. Kochar in Paris, between 1923 and 1936 participated energetically in the creation of the historical Avant-garde art. In France Kochar founded a new plastic form of expression Painting in Space which is one of the greatest achievements of Modern Art in the opinion of the prominent art theorists. In 1936 Kochar signed the Manifeste Dimensioniste which was the herald of the newest aesthetic principles of the time. Just the list of endorsements on the document (Calder, Arp, Kandinsky, Delaunay, Duchamp, Moholy-Nagy and others) reveals not only the whole spectrum of elite avant-garde, but also Kochar’s role and place during this time and amongst the pioneers. In 1936 he immigrated to Soviet Armenia and appeared on this side of the "Iron Curtain" where Stalin's terror raged. The road to return was closed forever ... And it is only here and at the Pompidou Center in Paris that the miracle of Kocharian art “Painting in Space” is exhibited. Unique documents and valuable facts of his connections with the leaders of Avant-garde are also displayed.