YEREVAN, JULY 7, ARMENPRESS. Honorary painter, actor Rafael Atoyan died at the age of 84 in Fresno. The Department of Public Relations of the Culture Ministry of the Republic of Armenia informed Armenpress about it.

The success his exhibitions had in Yogoslavia, France, and Austria did not come as a surprise, since those who keep up with the republic's cultural life are well aware, that Atoyan's paintings have invariably been the focus of attention for both the public and his fellow artists.

Two prime features distinguish Atoyan's art -- love for his native land and his immense patience.  His paintings, touching beautifully-colored landscapes and generic scenes, excite and fascinate by their profound national coloring and original skill.   The works of Atoyan, who mastered the secrets of and the latest currents in art, lack any striving to be modern or popular.  His perception was unique in its freshness and modernity.  The artist was confident that only the natural and plain emotions and experiences of man give birth to genuine art.  Atoyan, a lavishly gifted artist, had a well of inspiration of his own:  that was his native Leninakan, the life of an ordinary worker, his father's house, as well as everything that surrounds him -- animals, trees, and stones.  In Atoyan's world of magic colors all this was personified and given warmth by cheerful and poetic emotions and heartfelt love.