Haroutiun Galentz: The Form of Colour Reunites Displaced Works of an Armenian Modernist

Published by Skira in 2025, 'Haroutiun Galentz: The Form of Colour' reunites the Armenian modernist's displaced works for a chronological reading. Editors Vartan Karapetian and Marie Tomb argue that Galentz (1910–1967) forged a unique language of chromatic intensity and psychological portraiture amid Lebanese nationalism, French colonialism, Soviet Stalinism, and Armenian socialism. Silvia Burini's semiotic essay posits that his vivid reds, deep blues, and striking violets act as emotional equivalents, not arbitrary choices. In his 1955 self-portrait 'Bonjour Tristesse'—titled after Françoise Sagan's novel—Galentz fractures his face into warm and cool planes to express melancholy. Orphaned in 1915 during the Armenian Genocide, he taught himself to paint as an unhoused child in Syria. The book probes whether such formal invention was sincere self-expression or a convenient disguise.