Untitled 1980

This untitled painting is by Paul Guiragossian, who was born in Jerusalem in 1926 to Armenian parents who had survived the Armenian Genocide. Look at the figures; their forms and identities are blurred, almost ghostlike. They stand together, shoulder to shoulder, as if they were family. Guiragossian once said that his paintings were a reflection of "the drama of human existence." The muted tones and undefined shapes here evoke the shared experience of displacement and resilience. The figures seem to represent the universality of human suffering, hinting at themes of exile, loss, and the search for belonging. Guiragossian’s art confronts the erasure of identity that occurs through forced migration, but also the enduring strength of collective memory. This painting, with its emphasis on human connection, captures something essential about the human spirit amidst hardship.