Charles Garabedian/Չարլզ Կարապետյան was born on December 29, 1923, in Detroit, Michigan and died on February 11, 2016.

He was an American Armenian artist.

He was known for his imaginative paintings and drawings rich in references to Greek and Chinese symbolism.

Charles detailed artwork reveals a deeply personal world that explores the relationship between painting and sculpture.

Garabedian was born to Armenian immigrants who had come to the U.S. to escape the Armenian Genocide.

His mother died when he was two and his father was unable to take care of the three children.

Charles Garabedian lived in an orphanage until age nine, when he, his father, and siblings moved to Los Angeles, California.

Between 1942 and 1945, he served as a staff sergeant in the United States Air Force and was an aerial gunner in the European theater during World War II.

Whilst with the auspices of the G.I. Bill, he studied literature at the University of California, Santa Barbara from 1947 to 1948.

Charles Garabedian then went on to the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, where he earned his Bachelor’s degree in history in 1950.

Charles Garabedian received his Masters degree in 1961 at the University of California Los Angeles.

Charles Garabedian did not, however, become an artist until later in his life.

However, during his forties, he started to explore the relationships between painting and drawing.

His fascination with China is reflected in many of his pieces incorporating dragons and ornate grillwork and pattern.

whilst his most productive period was in the late 1960s, he still continues to paint.

Garabedian gave his first solo exhibition at the Ceeje gallery in Los Angeles (1963) and subsequent one-man shows followed at the Fine Arts Gallery at California State University, Northridge (1974), and The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York (1976).

Garabedian group exhibitions include the Whitney Museum of American Art Biennial Exhibition: Contemporary American Art, New York (1975) and others.

In 1979, Garabedian was a recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship for Fine Arts.

During the year 2011, the Santa Barbara Museum of Art hosted a retrospective of Garabedian’s work.

Charles Garabedian passed away at 92 yrs old.