Arthur Margossian was born in Lyon, France, in 1956. He is a self-taught painter who started painting at the age of 23 years old. He was drawn to the works of the impressionists and started off by reproducing the creations of Jeanne Samary d’Auguste Renoir. He continued his initiatory journey by beginning to create his own works and in November 1984, he exhibited in the VIIth edition of the Festival of Art and Culture for Armenian Youth where he won first prize in the Fine Arts category. This prize was awarded by Jean Carzou.

With a deep passion for painting, Arthur Margossian developed his talent through various currents of art, from impressionism to cubism. His various experiences led him to acquire a mastery of his craft and to realise that he could only express his sensitivity through his own unique work. His follows in the footsteps of Dubuffet, Gorki, Alechinsky and Rauschenberg. He is an artist who is constantly challenging himself and seeking new ways to improve his art.

In 1997, Arthur Margossian exhibited a collection of paintings entitled “Fil d’Orient” at the Atelier des Ombres in Lyons, France. This collection takes us on a voyage to faraway lands and invites us into an imaginary world via his original and baffling style.

He has revisited the paintings of great artists such as Velasquez, and in doing so his contemporary style has taken on yet another dimension.

There are two recurring themes in his works, urban landscapes and the influence of nature through his representations of plants.

His vast professional experience has led him to work wood, glass, leather, plaster and master using them. He enjoys the feel of these materials and in 2014, he began sculpting. He draws his inspiration from the aesthetics of simple materials such as pallet boards, pieces of wood, roots, tree bark, concrete, old paper, and the like. He gives new life to these elements that were destined to be destroyed as if he is challenging death in some way. He relies on his inspiration to assemble these materials to create his sculptures and his latest paintings and to give us a glimpse into one aspect of his universe.

Arthur Margossian’s entire work is a mixture of questions, interpretation and reflection on the world and human existence; a quest for meaning and a deep-rooted pursuit of happiness for all.

Modelled on the famous quote by Nietzsche “Art makes the appearance of life bearable by covering it with the veil of indecisive thought”, the artist’s creations bring us comfort of the soul and interrogates us through a profusion and a wealth of visual representations and material media (oil, bonding, scotch, wood and even pages of Nietzsche’s work) whose complexity becomes simple for the lay person thanks to the author’s talent.

Like Michel Onfray for philosophy, Arthur Margossian enables everyone to be able to understand and appropriate art without elitism and without becoming overly simplistic through diversity and a constant creative search that is immediately heard and felt by any unseasoned beginner.

Arthur Margossian’s work began in the 1980s and very soon won the First Prize for Fine Arts awarded by the famous artist Carzou in 1984. It is both the reflection of a man’s journey and his feelings over time as well as various expressions of art – from impressionism to cubism. From all of this emerges a unique work, a multiple vision of the world and a genuine transcendence of our everyday life.

Arthur Margossian’s work creates the link as in the words of Malraux: “Art is the shortest journey from man to man”.