Krikor Norikian
Krikor Norikian is a Lebanese artist of Armenian descent, born in Bourj Hammoud, Beirut, in 1941. After leaving school at a young age to support his family, he began working in his uncle’s printing press, an experience that helped shape his early interest in illustration, printmaking and lithography. Norikian studied at the Italian Institute of Fine Arts in Beirut, the Gudver Art School, the Pietro Vanucci Academy in Italy, and later at the École Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris. His early practice focused on engraving and lithography before expanding into painting. His work is deeply marked by themes of displacement, exile, memory and collective vulnerability. Often depicting groups of women, children and uprooted communities, Norikian’s compositions explore the tension between human fragility and resilience. His Armenian heritage, the Lebanese civil war, and the 1988 earthquake in Armenia strongly influenced his visual language. Through expressive figures, disrupted perspectives and layered spaces, Norikian creates powerful scenes that reflect loss, survival and the search for belonging. His works are held in important collections, including the Dalloul Art Foundation.
