Yerevan Museum of Modern Art

The Yerevan Museum of Contemporary Art was created in 1972 by Henrikh Igityan, who was the director of the museum for 37 years. In creating the museum, O. Igityan received great support from the then mayor of Yerevan G. Hasratyan, as well as from the best Armenian artists of the 60s.
As a specialized museum of contemporary art, this center of Armenian culture became the first in the territory of the former Soviet Union. For the next 20 years, this museum remained the only center for contemporary art in the above-mentioned region. After the opening of the museum, it immediately became a favorite place for official guests and tourists visiting Yerevan. The first exhibition of the museum was composed entirely of works by contemporary Armenian artists of the 60s, living both in Armenia and in the Diaspora.
During the existence of the Soviet Union, under the monopoly of socialist realism, modernism was prohibited in all its manifestations. For this reason, the government did not provide any financial assistance to this cultural center. Thus, the museum was established thanks to donations from Armenian artists.
The works of the generation of the 60s, in particular, Minas Avetisyan, Ashot Hovhannisyan, Martin Petrosyan, Hakob Hakobyan, Gayane Khachaturyan, Vruir Galstyan, Rudolf Khachatryan, Ashot Bayandur, today also form the main axis of the museum’s exhibition.
Over time, the museum's collection was replenished with donations from artists of the 1980s: Sargis Amalbashyan, Arthur and Ararat Sargsyan, Marine Dilanyan, Albert Hakobyan, Samvel Baghdasaryan, Arevik Arevshatyan, Ruben Grigoryan, Kamo Nigaryan, Armen Gevorgyan, Tigran Matulyan, Shadow Vardanyan, Gabriel Manukyan, Vahan Rumelyan, Nina Khemchyan, Ayvaz Avoyan and others.
In 2004, the museum received from the philanthropist Grigor Muradyan the works of the famous American artist and canfaker Emil Kazaz, and in 2010, from the Kapan Copper-Molybdenum Combine, sculptures by the Canadian artist Karen Petrosyan.
The museum's printing activities are noteworthy. Under the leadership of Henrikh Igityan, the museum staff has published a number of albums in recent years: “Kochar”, “A. Bazhbeuk-Melikyan”, “From Hovnatanyan to Minas”, “Museum”, “Armenian Palette I”, “Armenian Palette II”, “Minas” Avetisyan", "Vruyr Galstyan", "Ashot Hovhannisyan", "Yerevan Museum of Modern Art", as well as personal catalogs of artists of the 1980s.
Today, as usual, the Museum of Contemporary Art awaits its visitors, who, along with getting acquainted with works of art, can receive professional comments in Armenian, Russian and foreign languages.