The Art of Sarkis Antikajian

Paintings, Drawings, and images in Words

By BOB KEEFER

The Register-Guard
April 26, 2007

The fans of Sarkis Antikajian—and they are legion—will be thrilled to know there's now a way to buy 274 of his paintings and drawings in one fell swoop.

The Cheshire artist, well-known around Eugene for his colorful, upbeat art and his sweet, courtly temperament, has just brought out a book of his own work.

And what a book it is. The 9-inch-by-12-inch hard bound volume, self published by Antikajian after several years of doing battle with computer layout programs, amounts to a nicely designed retrospective of his landscapes, still lifes and figure studies.

Besides the art, "Sarkis" offers a bit of poetry, though Antikajian is loath to call it that. He prefers the phrase "images in words" to describe the homey writing he does, sitting alone at a computer after rising well before dawn each day. It also has a handful of quotes from his favorite artists.

Antikajian, 72, was born of Armenian parents and grew up in Amman and Jerusalem. He got his degree in chemistry at the American University in Beirut before studying pharmacy at the University of New Mexico.

All that time, though, he wanted to be an artist, and he's been painting steadily since his retirement about 10 years ago. He has a show coming up this summer at the Lawrence Gallery in Salishan.

He began work on the book three years ago; it was printed in March.

Even with a $75 price tag the book is unlikely to make money, he admits. Profit was not the point. "If I was going to make one book in my life I figured I might as will do it my way," the artist said. "So it was a very costly proposition. But my family and I decided, better do it now or never. Life is short."