Léon Tutundjian: The Lost Pioneer of Avant-Garde Art

Armenian visual artist Léon Tutunjian died in relative obscurity until his works were rediscovered by the art establishment of Paris of the 1970s and 80s and through posthumous exhibitions that have since traveled the world. Today, Tutundjian is considered a forerunner of the abstract expressionist movement with a pronounced influence on globally recognized artists like Jeap Arp and Wassily Kandinsky. Despite his pioneering role and recognition by his peers, he remained on the fringes of the art world throughout his life, seemingly oblivious to the art of self-promotion. With his new stature as a major artist of the French Avant-Garde art movement, Tutundjian is recognized for his breakthrough sculptures, known as “reliefs,” in addition to his collages, paintings, and drawings, as well as ceramics.

Originally published November 2024.

About the speaker

Choghakate Kazarian

Choghakate Kazarian is an Armenian-born French curator and art historian who is interested in critical reexaminations of artist biographies and creative processes. She was curator at the Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris and taught at the Ecole du Louvre. She has curated exhibitions on artists such as Lucio Fontana, Piero Manzoni, Karel Appel, and Henry Darger, with accompanying exhibition catalogues, and has written essays on postwar art, contemporary art, and outsider art. Her latest exhibitions include “Immersion. Les Origines: 1949–1969” at the Musée Cantonal des Beaux-Arts de Lausanne and “New Matter: The Sergei Djavadian Collection of Armenian Abstraction” at the National Gallery of Armenia.

Choghakate Kazarian