Vahé-André Hekimian

VAHÉ-ANDRÉ HEKIMIAN (Turkey, 1913/14–France, 1997)
"Génie," 1964.
Mixed media on canvas.
Signed and dated in the lower right corner. Signed, dated, and inscribed on the reverse.
Measurements: 99.5 x 49.5 cm; 101 x 51 cm (frame).

A work by Vahé-André Hekimian created in 1963, belonging to his mature abstract period, in which material, gesture, and texture take on a central role. The composition is set against a surface of ochre and gold tones, crisscrossed by incisions, reliefs, and fragmentary marks that create an image with a strong archaeological and poetic character.

Hekimian developed a style of painting linked to the climate of postwar European abstraction, with a particular focus on material density, the imprint of the gesture, and the construction of evocative surfaces. In this work, the figure seems to emerge from an eroded background, like a presence straddling the human, the mythical, and the totemic.

The title, "Génie," reinforces this symbolic reading: it is not a descriptive representation, but rather a suggested, almost spiritual image, constructed through strokes, layers, and reliefs. The verticality of the format and the concentration of signs on the central axis give the piece an intense presence, akin to an icon or a contemporary stele.

Given its date, format, and material richness, the work constitutes a representative example of Hekimian’s artistic language in the 1960s, a period when his painting moved away from conventional figuration to explore an expressive, tactile, and deeply evocative abstraction.

Born in the Ordu region, in the former Armenian territory of the Ottoman Empire, Hekimian was marked by the experience of exile and spent much of his career in the French art scene. He exhibited in Europe and the United States, and some of his works are held in the National Gallery of Armenia.