A Portrait of Arshile

Extreme close shot of small child. VOs tell him (in Armenian and English) that he’s named after a man who painted a portrait of himself and his mother, based on a photograph taken in Armenia in 1912 when the boy was eight… The child is named Arshile. VOs continue to relate the stories of the family through famine in Yeravan in 1919. The 1912 photograph. The VOs say that the boy, Vosdanik Adoian, changed his name to Arshile Gorky. Sketches of the photograph. The painting. Credits.Extreme close shot of small child. VOs tell him (in Armenian and English) that he’s named after a man who painted a portrait of himself and his mother, based on a photograph taken in Armenia in 1912 when the boy was eight… The child is named Arshile. VOs continue to relate the stories of the family through famine in Yeravan in 1919. The 1912 photograph. The VOs say that the boy, Vosdanik Adoian, changed his name to Arshile Gorky. Sketches of the photograph. The painting. Credits.

Portrait of the Artist and His Mother 1926/36
by Arshile Gorky,
© ADAGP, Paris and DACS, London 1995,
Board of Trustees, National Gallery of Art, Washington 1995,
Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund.
Written and directed by Atom Egoyan;
Translator Arsinée Khanjian;
Piano Eve Egoyan;
Voices Arsinée Khanjian,
Atom Egoyan.
With thanks to Steven Munro,
Sevan Melikyan,
Paul Sarossy,
Karlen Mouradian,
Simone Urdi.
Original Title Music Roger White;
Series Titles Excess;
Series Researcher Nigel Algar;
Executive Producers Rodney Wilson,
Keith Alexander;
Series Producers Keith Griffiths,
Diane Freeman.
Koninck for BBC and the Arts Council of England.
© BBC The Arts Council of England MCMXCV.