The Life and Artistic Journey of Stephen Sacklarian
Born in Varna, Bulgaria, to Turkish Armenian parents, Stephen Sacklarian emigrated to the United States in 1911. His early years in Philadelphia were marked by poverty, and during a period of his youth, he worked as a Golden Gloves boxer. Before dedicating himself to art, Sacklarian pursued a successful career in industry and business as a sales engineer, working for companies such as General Electric. He graduated with honors from the Wharton School of Business.
Sacklarian later formally studied at several institutions, including the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art, the University of the Arts, the T Square Club-School for Architects, and the Fleisher Memorial Art School, eventually studying under the sculptor Paul Manship. His early career from the 1930s until the late 1950s focused on realistic paintings of nude portraits, nature, and indoor stills.
Evolution of Style and Later Years
In 1966, Sacklarian began using acrylics, which led to a distinct Abstractionist style. During the late 1950s and early 1960s, he also produced wood sculptures ranging from 12 inches to over 8 feet tall. Following the death of his wife, Ayne, Sacklarian experienced a period of deep depression during which he destroyed much of his studio, including most of his early paintings and all of his known sculptures.
His later works in the late 1960s and 1970s were characterized by vibrant and upbeat qualities. His paintings often feature:
- Biomorphic forms in the foreground.
- Angular, room-like backgrounds or dark color fields.
- Human and animal forms, limbs, faces, and abstract sexual organs.
Sacklarian served as an artist-in-residence at Notre Dame University in the 1970s. He died in 1983, leaving works held in the permanent collections of over 60 museums worldwide.
