The exhibition of the artwork by Armenia painter Guros will be opened at “Zvartnots” historical-cultural museum-reservation on December 25, the Service for the protection of historical environment and cultural museum-reservations affiliated with the ministry of culture reported in a release. The exhibition will feature both the paintings and the photos taken by the Armenian artist.

Born in 1905 in the town of Goris, Guros (Gourgen Paronyan), entered the sphere of art as a photographer at age of 21. Focusing on ethnographic, historiographic and landscape themes, Guros diligently recorded the lifestyle, customs and the historical-architectural environment of his native city and the Syunik region. Thanks to his photographs, we are today able to form a clear visual idea about the daily life and rich traditions of Syunik region’s inhabitants.

His great love for painting motivated him to abandon photography in 1938 and fully dedicate himself to the fine arts. Despite being self-taught, the artist achieved considerable success in this field, becoming a member of the Artists Union of Armenia (in 1939) and in 1965, an Honoured Artist of the Armenian SSR. The nature and culture of Syunik continued to dominate his painting as a subject.

Besides its undeniable documentary value, Guros' photographic legacy can, therefore, be considered as one of the more original oeuvres in the early stages of documentary photography’s emergence in Soviet Armenia.