On July 6, People’s Painter of the Republic of Armenia, sculptor Artashes Hovsepyan passed away. He was 86 years old.

The Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Armenia reports that a governmental commission will be established to organize the funeral of Artashes Hovsepyan.

Artashes Hovsepyan was born in the Sarnakunk village of the Syunik Province of the Republic of Armenia. He was the brother of painter Zakar Khachatryan. He graduated from the secondary school in the regional center of Syunik region and was a worker. In 1954, he got accepted to Terlemezyan Art School in Yerevan, but was transferred to the I. N. Repin Institute of Painting, Sculpting and Architecture in Saint Petersburg starting from the 2^nd year and graduated in 1961.

In the same year, he participated in the competition for the statue of Alexander Tamanyan and won the 1^st and 2^nd prizes.

The monument was unveiled in 1974. He is author of over 50 sculptures, including the bust of Karl Marx (1962), the eagle at the entrance to the city of Sisyan (1969), the monument to the Kurtan residents killed in the Great Patriotic War (1971), the statue of Alexander Tamanyan (1974), the bas-reliefs at St. Sargis Church in Yerevan (1975), a cross-stone in the yard of the residence of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin (1975), the bas-reliefs at Yerevan Brandy Factory (1975-93), the bas-reliefs at “Sasuntsi Davit” metro station (1981), the statue of Armen Tigranyan at Oval Park in Yerevan (1985), the Orbeli Brothers Memorial in Tsaghkadzor (1988), the statue of Nikoghayos Adonts in Sisyan (1993), the high-reliefs of the church in Kashatagh (2003), the statue of Jivani in Javakhk (2005), etc.

He has also created hundreds of graphic works. He has received the First Prize of the USSR Government in Architecture. In 1989, he was granted the title of Merited Art Figure of Armenia, and in 2007 – the title of People’s Painter.