The event will feature the mural art of the late Jirayr Zorthian whose studies were recently discovered and preserved. The exhibit illustrates Jirayr Zorthian’s rigorous research and dynamic creative process in rendering and creating 42 murals, many of which are still on display throughout America. [Image courtesy Zorthian Ranch]
Zorthian was a noticeable man about town in Altadena and Pasadena for decades — diminutive in size, massive in life-force. He bought the 48-acre Ranch in 1945 and called it “The Center for Research and Development of Industrial Discards with Emphasis on Aesthetics.”
To premiere newly-discovered mural art studies, to introduce his art to new generations and let his aficionados savor more of Zorthian’s uniqueness, his family is opening a free exhibit to the public called “Visions of America – The Mural Art of Jirayr Zorthian (1936-45).”
The exhibit will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on October 15, 16, 22 and 23, from at Zorthian Barn Gallery. (The visit to the compound itself will be memorable.)
Born in 1911 in Kutahya, Turkey, Jirayr was an Armenian genocide survivor. He and his family moved to New Haven, Connecticut in the United States in 1922 as an immigrant.
Eventually, in 1946, he found a home in the foothills of Altadena, up a winding road in a captivating place he called Zorthian Ranch.
The Yale-trained artist is known for his paintings of nude women. But throughout his career, he also painted several massive murals — including 11 for the Tennessee state capitol in 1938.
During World War II, he served stateside in Army intelligence and painted what he came to consider his masterpiece, a mural titled “The Phantasmagoria of Military Intelligence Training.”
Zorthian chaired the Pasadena Art Fair from 1954-1955 and staged a show of his work at what was then the Pasadena Art Museum in 1953. On January 6, 2004 he died of congestive heart failure.
‘Very skilled, talented’ artist
“My father was an artist who was very skilled and talented and every bit as relevant as any of the artists in the 20th century were,” Alan Zorthian, son of Jirayr said. “As an artist, he was able to channel some of the trauma that he had experienced into his art, and then thus resolve it constructively.”
While he was very skilled, Alan said his father did not get involved in galleries too much, that is why he did not become extremely famous just like other artists during his time.
Jirayr would sometimes sell his pieces, but only if he really liked the person, said Alan. “He never sold through galleries or anything like that,” said Alan.
According to Alan, the mural studies, which will be shown at the upcoming exhibit, were recently discovered at the cellar of the Zorthian Ranch.
‘A piece of history’
He said the mural studies illustrate Jirayr’s rigorous research and dynamic creative process in rendering and creating 42 murals as part of the WPA Project. Many of which are still on display throughout America.
He added that his father’s mural studies, which will be shown to the public for the first time, illustrate historical events that were relevant to the particular areas where his father did the murals.
“We called it Visions of America because it dealt with his interpretations of these American events and how he illustrated them with the murals that he did.”
“The studies themselves were so interesting, [that is why] we decided to build a show around that and show the process he went through. It was a dynamic process that he went through to develop the compositions,” said Alan. “The murals themselves are very well done and they’re presented as just a piece of history.”
Building Zorthian Ranch
In 1946, after Jirayr graduated from Yale, he built six acres of land in Altadena and built Zorthian Ranch.
Alan said through the help of immigrants, his father built the ranch from things that people threw away.
“He bought telephone poles from the Pasadena Department of Water and Power, and he got telephone poles, cross arms, railroad ties. They’re tearing out all the trains all over LA so he’d get the railroad ties and he would build with those because he got them for free. But he would carefully design everything and he would do it in his own unique style, which was kind of, he developed it himself.”
“He’d build concrete walls and make them with interesting textures.”
Zorthian Ranch later became a site for unforgettable parties and other events including jazz performances, retreats, and movie shoots. As owner of Zorthian Ranch, Jirayr himself hosted several events at the site during his lifetime.
“He liked to have a good time. He liked to dance, [and] he liked to socialize. He’d like to get to know a lot of people,” recounted Alan.
“Everybody always remembers the party he would have every year. Because he is very social, and he would have a big party, and he would invite everybody he knew. And there would be a lot of very interesting people. There’d be actors, scientists, artists, everybody would be mixing together.”
Meanwhile, aside from the free exhibit, the Zorthian Family will also be giving guided tours for free during the hours of the exhibit. For more information, visit https://zorthianranch.com/
Zorthian Ranch is located at 3990 Fair Oaks Ave. in Altadena. Call (626)797-3359.
