National Art Gallery (Armenian Art)

The National Art Gallery of Armenia was founded in 1921. Its extensive collection of Armenian, Russian and Western European art numbers over 19000 items. It is one of richest museums of the former Soviet Union. In those days it incorporated archaeological, ethnographical and art departments. The National Art Gallery of Armenia constitutes a part of a special and unequalled museum world, a source of aesthetic and intellectual delights.

Armenian art is based, to a certain extent, on a synthesis of Western and Eastern cultures. The poet Valery Briusov wrote in 1916: "Two forces, two cultures, by crossing one another, interwining and merging into something new and unified, directed the life of Armenia, and moulded the character of its people throughout the millennia: the culture of the West and the East, the spirit of Europe and the spirit of Asia". Whereas the art of ancient Armenia developed within the framework of the artistic traditions of the ancient East (in particular, Urartu), Persia, Mesopotamia, Asia Minor, and also of Hellenism, Armenian art in the Middle Ages was influenced by the art of other countries. One finds in Armenian art certain subjects and ornamental motifs characteristic of the countries of the Mediterranean and the Near East.