Bio

Edman was born in Teheran Iran in 1931, into an Armenian family, and started painting at the age of thirteen. As a young artist he regularly participated in group exhib­itions and one-man shows, exploring and recording the vast country on canvas. His paintings endeavoured to capture the richness of cultures, traditions, and the architecture of past and current. His early works culminated in the publication of ‘An Armenian Village’ in 1984.

From an early age, his travels were influenced by his outlook on art, and in particular classical Rome with its awe-inspiring art works and series of church murals, including ‘The Last Supper’ and ‘The Creation.’ After a brief residency in Rome, he moved to London in 1973, where he studied at the Academy of Arts

In his formative years he studied Persian art in Isfahan, a cradle of Islamic art and design, much later he was commissioned to design a 250 metre calligraphy frieze, which was installed in Riyadh Airport in 1985. Some years later he was commissioned again to design a 50-metre mural for the King Abdul-Aziz National Museum, Riyadh.

His works are founded on the need to understand nature though the abstraction of form, light and colour. Distilling these essences, he applied his artistic talents to capturing the diverse scenery of rivers, landscapes, and seascapes in all their forms. He joined the Wapping Group of Artists in 2002 and was very much at home in the company of like-minded painters, enjoying the endearing friendship of his fellow artists, who were and still are dedicated to recording the essence of the Thames and the human activity that this great river supports on its banks.

In 1977 he was fortunate enough to meet Aram Khachaturian in London and was asked to paint a portrait of the great composer. This painting now hangs in the Khachaturian Museum in Yerevan, Armenia.

Some of his works are also exhibited at the Museum San Lazaro, Venice; the National Museum and the Museum of Modern Art, Yerevan; and the Aivazovski Museum, Theodosia. There are also murals and paintings in Armenian churches in Teheran and the National Museum, Riyadh. A number of his paintings are with private collectors around the world.

Exhibitions include: Biennale Venice, New York, Yerevan, Crimea, RIBA London, ROI, RSMA.

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With over 1200 pieces of artwork, Edman’s prolific works remain to be discovered by the wider world.