MATERIAL: Paper
TYPE: Manuscript
DIMENSIONS: 24.5 x 18 cm
COMPONENTS: 237 folios; 36 gatherings numbered in Armenian letters from U (A) to R(K) mostly of eight leaves. The end signature of quire 4 occurs on folio 31b. Text in square bolorgir (round hand) in more than one hand in two columns of 20/21 lines each column
(written surface 23.5 x 16 cm).
Binding - stamped dark brown calf skin over wooden boards. Top cover has a blind tooled cross of cord motif raised on three steps and the back a knotted rope rectangular design. The inside covers have chequered linen doublures.
CONDITION: Satisfactory. Holes on the front cover which once held the pins for the missing flap. The portraits of the Evangelists Matthew and John are lost. Fol. 180a 2nd column torn out; folio 105 re-written; inscriptions in the portraits of Mark (fol.69b) and
Luke(fol.1 12b) have been painted over. Folios 186,194 have tears in the inner margin.
NOTES: This manuscript once belonged to famous Armenian-American artist Hovsep Pushman (Armenian: Յովսէփ Փուշման; May 9, 1877 – February 13, 1966). He was known for his contemplative still lifes and sensitive portraits of women, often in exotic dress. He was most closely associated during his lifetime with the Grand Central Art Galleries, which represented him from its opening in 1922 until his death in 1966. Hovsep Pushman was born and grew up in the town of Dikranagerd in the Ottoman Empire, where his family, originally "Pushmanian," was in the carpet business. Pushman showed artistic ability early, and at age 11 was the youngest student ever admitted to Istanbul's Imperial School of Fine Arts. In 1896, Pushman's family emigrated to Chicago, where he studied Chinese culture, immersing himself in Asian art, and began to teach at the age of 17. He then moved to Paris and studied at the Académie Julian under Jules Joseph Lefebvre, Tony Robert-Fleury and Adolphe Déchenaud. He had often turned down buyers interested in his work, reportedly once refusing an offer of $6,000 for a small canvas. In 1942 he became only the second painter in 117 years to refuse entry into the National Academy.
For more than two decades after Hovsep Pushman's death his sons, Arsene and Armand, preserved their father's studio intact. All of Pushman's objects, carpets, antiques, and paintings stayed until the last of the family's heirs died around 1990. On January 26th, 1972, the Deputy Director of the Matenadaran ( the official manuscript museum of Armenia) was searching for important manuscripts still in private collections and paid a visit to Arsene and Armand Pushmanian, the two sons of the artist. He was shown four Armenian manuscripts, including this one.
Hovsep Pushman's paintings are in the collections of many major museums, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Boston's Museum of Fine Arts, the Seattle Art Museum, the San Diego Art Institute, the Houston Art Museum, the Rockford Art Museum, and the Minneapolis Institute of Arts.
For more than two decades after Hovsep Pushman's death his sons, Arsene and Armand, preserved their father's studio intact. All of Pushman's objects, carpets, antiques, and paintings stayed until the last of the family's heirs died around 1990. On January 26th, 1972, the Deputy Director of the Matenadaran ( the official manuscript museum of Armenia) was searching for important manuscripts still in private collections and paid a visit to Arsene and Armand Pushmanian, the two sons of the artist. He was shown four Armenian manuscripts, including this one.
Hovsep Pushman's paintings are in the collections of many major museums, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Boston's Museum of Fine Arts, the Seattle Art Museum, the San Diego Art Institute, the Houston Art Museum, the Rockford Art Museum, and the Minneapolis Institute of Arts.
ITEM ID: 5815
