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Azi am debutat in Hairenik. Iata, in sfarsit, interviul cu Onik Sahakian publicat in Hairenik (asa cum trebuia sa fie cunoscut), cea mai veche publicatie din Armenia (1899). Asa cum ma avertizeaza si redactorul-sef al ziarului, Zaven Torikian, textul, pentru mine, e chineza. Sper, totusi, sa fie traducerea exacta a interviului meu.  Si mai sper sa fie interesant pentru vorbitorii de armeana.

 Hairenik 1

Hairenik 8

Hairenik 9

Hairenik 14

Povestea artistului care a trăit aproape 20 de ani alături de Salvador Dali

 „Dali era egoist!”, „Dali iubea nebunia!”, „Dali ignora pe toată lumea!” Așa se conturează povestea celui care a trăit, poate pentru prea mult timp, în umbra lui Salvador Dali. Sunt puţini cei care au auzit de Onik Sahakian, pictorul pe care însuși Salvador Dali îl desemnase cel mai dalinian artist. El este cel care l-a ajutat pe Dali la crearea colajelor, tablourilor, sculpturilor şi chiar la realizarea faimosului bust din bronz Nieuw Amsterdam (1974). Cei doi artiști și-au petrecut mulți ani împreună, explorând forma și structura, iar această experiență a condus la dezvoltarea stilului suprarealist unic al lui Onik.  L-am întâlnit pe Onik în Madrid, Spania. Fixasem o întâlnire la cafeneaua Hotelului Gaudi, de pe Gran Via. Mă aștepta în holul hotelului, în fața unei cești de cafea. Cu toate că are o anumită vârstă, Onik și-a păstrat șarmul unui gentleman. Și, încă, unul foarte arătos. Am ajuns târziu, ca întotdeauna, dar nu a părut a fi deranjat. De parcă, ar fi avut tot timpul din lume. Eram acolo, în fața unui om a cărui viață o poți ușor răsfoi în paginile îngălbenite ale cotidianelor americane: artistul care a creat bijuterii pentru soția lui Nixon, balerinul desăvârșit, care a dansat pe scenele Moscovei, pictorul ale cărui lucrări sunt expuse în muzee celebre. Artistul, care a trăit aproape 20 de ani în preajma lui Salvador Dali, stătea în fața mea. El, Onik Sahakian, este artistul care mi-a permis să plâng cu el…

În primul rând, ce amintiri păstrați de acasă? Încercaţi să vă amintiţi, chiar dacă este dificil, figura mamei, a tatălui, a bunicilor. Cum v-au influenţat traiectul?

Familia mea este originară din Rusia. Unii au trăit la Moscova, alții la Sankt Petersburg. Aparţineau micii burghezii, iar după revoluţia din 1917, din cauza comuniştilor, au plecat în Iran. Nici în Iran viaţa nu a fost uşoară. Asta pentru că au ajuns în timpul dinastiei Kadjar. Deoarece familia mea venea din Rusia am început să iubesc baletul, arta, muzica clasică. M-au influenţat foarte mult în copilărie. Tatăl meu a murit când aveam șase luni. Nu l-am cunoscut niciodată. M-am născut la Teheran. Am trăit mult timp într-o casă veche, construită în stil grecesc. Mi-am petrecut aproape toată copilăria în aceea casă. Chiar după al doilea război mondial mama mea a decis să se recăsătorească. Aveam nouă ani. Îmi amintesc acea perioadă pentru că unchiul meu mă punea să-i cumpăr Pravda, să vadă ce se mai întâmplă.

 Ce limbă vorbeați în familie?

Unii dintre ei vorbeau rusa, alții franceza. Rudele din partea tatălui vorbeau franceza în casă, iar cele din partea mamei rusa și germana. După ce s-a recăsătorit, mama mea s-a mutat la Marea Caspică. Am rămas cu bunica mea. Trei luni mai târziu, am fost să o vizitez. Tatăl meu vitreg nu era prea încântat de vizita mea. Nu m-a dorit acolo niciodată.

Nu vă înțelegeați cu tatăl vitreg?

Am avut o relație îngrozitoare. În fiecare zi îmi spunea ce ar trebui să fac. Nu aveam voie să dansez, să creez, nu puteam face nimic din ceea ce însemna artă. Nimic! El și-ar fi dorit să lucrez pentru el. Avea un magazin și mă punea să spăl geamuri! Nu puteam nici să respir! Am stat cu ei trei ani. N-am vrut să mă opun căsătoriei. Am înțeles faptul că mama mea, ca femeie, avea nevoie de un bărbat. Întotdeauna îmi spunea că s-a căsătorit pentru ca eu să am un tată. Dar acesta nu era un tată pentru mine!

 „Am stat acolo, ascultând, și, înainte să-mi dau seama, am început să mă rog cu ei!”

 În Iran, oamenii erau foarte religioși. Aveam niște vecini. Ei erau extrem de religioși și, în fiecare vineri seara, se rugau lui Imam Reza, unul dintre cei mai importanți Imam. Ei mi-au spus că, dacă ai credință și te rogi, acesta te va ajuta. Îmi amintesc așa de bine acea zi. I-am auzit rugându-se. Am stat acolo, ascultând, și înainte să-mi dau seama, am început să mă rog cu ei! Mă rugam și îi ceream ajutorul lui Imam Reza. În orice caz, în acea noapte mi-a apărut în vis. Era fantastic! Stătea în camera mea, pe un cal alb! Nu-mi venea să cred! Adică, mă uitam pur și simplu la tipul ăsta! Un bărbat pe un cal alb! A spus: „M-ai chemat? Dacă vrei ca viața ta să se schimbe, trebuie să pleci din această casă”. Mi-a spus: „Pleacă de aici!”. Două zile mai târziu am fugit de acasă, la bunica. Nu mi-am văzut mama mai bine de 20 de ani. 

Ce s-a întâmplat după aceea?

Când am ajuns la Teheran am început imediat să-mi pregătesc documentele pentru Statele Unite ale Americii. Nu era ușor la vremea aceea. Trebuia să mituiești o mulțime de oameni pentru a obține pașaport. Dumnezeule, era un dezastru cu mita în Iran! Un unchi de-al meu m-a ajutat să-mi iau pașaportul. Mi-am luat Viza, ca student. Primisem 25 de dolari de acasă, pentru a mă descurca. În 1956 am părăsit Iranul. Am ajuns în America, unde mă aștepta un unchi de-al meu, fratele tatălui meu și bunica din partea tatălui. Ei plecaseră în 1953. M-am înscris la școală. Dacă erai un student bun îți dădeau voie să lucrezi patru ore pe  zi. M-am angajat la un teatru, ca actor. Primeam 30 de dolari pe săptămână. După aceea, am început să-mi vând picturile. M-am înconjurat de oameni interesanți și am devenit în scurt timp foarte popular. Viața mea s-a schimbat complet în America. Începusem să am spectacole. Jurnaliștii veneau să mă vadă.

 Cum l-ați cunoscut pe Dali? Când și în ce împrejurări v-ați întâlnit prima dată? 

Dali obișnuia să vină la New York. Aveam un prieten, Sebu, pe care îl cunoșteam din Teheran. Fusese hair-stylist-ul Casei Regale din Rusia. A fugit în America și lucra la Casa Revlon. Era cel care îl aranja pe Dali. Sebu îmi povestise de Dali. Mi-a spus că Dali îl rugase să-l facă să arate ca Velasquez. Să-i dea mustața cu ceară. Într-o zi, i-am spus lui Sebu că vreau să-l cunosc pe Dali. Pe atunci, locuiam în Los Angeles. Sebu i-a spus lui Dali că are un văr, care și-ar dori să-l cunoască. Dali l-a întrebat: „Serios? Dar e un băiat obișnuit sau unul nebun?”. Sebu i-a spus : „Nu, nu! Este complet nebun!” și Dali i-a răspuns: „Dali foarte interesat să-l cunoască!”. Când eram copil eram înnebunit după artiștii suprarealiști! Îi cunoșteam opera doar din albume. Am plecat la New York să-l întâlnesc. Am ajuns într-o după-masă. Am intrat în salon. Dali era cu bigudiurile în cap. Nu avea foarte mult păr, cu toate acestea îl punea tot timpul pe Sebu să-i pună acele bigudiuri imense. Purtam o jachetă de catifea și un papion imens. Mă simțeam ca pe scenă! Am făcut câteva piruete și am îngenuncheat în fața lui Dali. Nu i-a venit să creadă! S-a ridicat de pe scaun și a început să strige: „Bravo, bravo!” și m-a sărutat de două ori. Din acea zi, nu ne-am mai despărțit! Trebuia să stau cu Dali zi de zi. Jur! Nu mă lăsa singur niciodată. Totul se petrecea în 1958. După ce mi-am terminat studiile, în 1969, am decis să mă mut la New York. Am locuit cu Sebu o perioadă. Am început să colaborez cu Van Cleef&Arpel Jewelry. Am creat pentru ei o colecție de bijuterii cu aspect oriental. Sebu o cunoștea pe Suzy Mita Barker, jurnalistă la un tabloid. Foarte cunoscută. Urma să plece în Mexic, la un eveniment important. I-am creat un colier. Toată lumea l-a remarcat. Chiar și Kenneth Lane. Am lucrat pentru el șase luni, după care mi-am deschis propria afacere: Onik Designs Ltd. În 1974 am creat bijuterii pentru soția lui Nixon. Din păcate, chiar atunci a început scandalul Watergate. America devenea coruptă. Timp de cinci ani mi-a mers foarte rău. Am pierdut toți banii. M-am apucat de altceva. Făceam afaceri cu petrol.  O perioadă mi-a mers foarte bine. În 1986 am vândut tot și m-am mutat în Portugalia.

Mi-ați povestit despre viața profesională, familie, obsesia pentru Dali. Dar viața personală? Trebuie să fi fost cineva..

Am trăit toată viața singur. Mi-am dedicat-o profesiei. Nu m-am îndrăgostit niciodată. M-am îndrăgostit de iubire. Nu am vrut niciodată să mă așez. În 1960 am avut o prietenă, Sheila. Cânta la chitară și obișnuia să picteze, dar era leneșă. Ne-am căsătorit, dar la fel de repede ne-am și despărțit. Câteodată, simt că am nevoie de cineva…Dar n-am întâlnit pe nimeni…

Cum v-a marcat întâlnirea cu Dali? În ce se reflectă?

Cu Dali am învățat profesionalismul și disciplina. Asta cu siguranță. Munca alături de Dali m-a învățat să fiu profesionist; să fac lucrurile la timp și așa cum trebuie! Trebuia să-l cunoști bine ca să poți să-ți dai seama de asta. Unii îl urau! Nu poți să mulțumești pe toată lumea! Există critici care îmi spun că recunosc stilul lui Dali în tablourile mele. Este din cauză că am studiat cu el! Oamenii nu înțeleg arta! Când îi aduc un omagiu lui Dali, lucrez la tablourile mele și îl aduc pe Dali în ele. Ideea lucrărilor mele este liniștea și spațiul.

De ce liniște ?

Pentru că avem nevoie de liniște. Zgomotul, gălagia te epuizează. Trebuie să ne relaxăm. 

Ce amintiri păstrați cu Dali? 

Dali a fost pentru mine un mare profesor! Un Guru! Îmi amintesc că a vrut să-mi facă un fluture. Și, l-a făcut. Îl păstram acasă. Un prieten a  venit la mine în vizită și mi-a spus că are o cunoștință, care colecționează fluturi. Mi-a spus că îmi dă pe el 5000 de dolari, dacă îl pun pe Dali să semneze pe el. Și l-a dus la Dali. Și Dali l-a întrebat de unde are fluturele. Tipul i-a spus că de la un dealer! Ne-am certat foarte rău! Am rupt fluturele și i l-am aruncat direct în față. Am făcut foarte multe lucruri pentru Dali. Pe gratis! El nu mi-a dat niciodată nimic! În acelaşi timp, am creat bijuterii şi pentru soţia lui, Gala. Gala nu a apreciat niciodată nimic. Dali nu dădea niciodată un tablou pe gratis. Cu toate că făceam toate sculpturile pentru el, aripile pentru tablouri, el nu mi-a dat niciodată nimic. Am făcut totul pentru Dali.

Îmi amintiţi de un personaj din Luni de fiere, de Pascal Bruckner. Avea o remarcă în jurnal: „ai grijă să nu te pierzi în personalitatea altcuiva”. 

N-aş fi putut. Era prea egoist! Nu puteam să fiu ca Dali. Era extrem de egoist. Nu ajuta pe nimeni. Niciodată. Ştia că nu am nevoie de nimic. Profita de oricine şi ignora pe toată lumea. Dali nu era capabil să scrie un cec. Gala l-a creat pe Dali! Gala era o persoană foarte importantă pentru Dali. Însă, ei doi erau ca șoarecele şi pisica. Se certau tot timpul.

The story of the artist who lived for 19 years with Salvador Dali

Maybe not many of us have heard about Onik Sahakian, the most “Dalíen” person, as he was proclaimed by Salvador Dali himself. Onik Sahakian is the one who assisted Dalí in the process of creating his collages, paintings and sculptures, as well as the famous bronze bust Nieuw Amsterdam (1974). The two artists spent many years exploring form and structure and this experience lead to the development of Onik’s unique spin on surrealism. I met Onik at the Gaudi Hotel in Spain’s Capital, Madrid. He was waiting for me in the hall, with a cup of coffee in front of him. Although he has a certain age, he still has the charm of a gentleman, and a very good looking one, I could say. I arrived there late, as usual, but he did not seem to be bothered by that. His moves betrayed the fact that he had once been a ballet dancer. He was acting as if he had all the time in the world. I was there, standing in front of a man from the American newspapers’ archives, who spent almost 20 years beside Dali, who created pieces of jewelry for Nixon`s wife, who performed on the Moscow stages, who’s paintings are exhibited in the great museums around the world, including the prestigious Museum of World Culture at Gothenburg, the Grand Palaisin Paris, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Moscow and the Contemporary Art Museum in Tehran. But, besides all this, I just wanted to reveal the life-story of Onik Sahakian, the man who is in love with love, the man who believes in the power of being and, last but not least, the man who sees the Sun as a God. I just wanted to know the story of a man who had lived for too long in the shadow of Salvador Dali…

Oana POPIȚIU

O. P.: First of all, I’d like to ask you about your family. Try to remember, even if it is difficult, the figure of your mother, of your father, of your grandmother. What do you remember about them? How did they influence you and your future?

Onik Sahakian: As I remember, since I was a child, my parents had to leave Russia after the revolution in 1917 (the Russian revolution). They were part of the Russian “petit bourgeoisie” so they had a difficult time during the communist regime. My grandfather had an Iranian passport. I know that they were called Nazarovici. So they took all the documents and papers from Russia to go to Iran. It took them almost four years to be able to come back to Russia. After the revolution there were many problems in Russia, there was chaos. My family went to Iran and there they had a terrible time because at that time the country was lead by Kadjar (The Qajar dynasty). My parents were Christians and life in Iran was very strict. Everybody had to wear chadors. I was told that the members of my family were not allowed to enter the butchery only because they were Christians. They had to stand outside the store and write on a piece of wood what kind of meat they wanted to buy. They could not touch the potatoes. It was horrible. For someone who was coming from Russia, an extremely sophisticated country at that time, life in Iran was very difficult; they were suddenly confronted with this kind of problems. But Iran began to change slowly. Shah (Reza Khan proclaimed Shah as Reza Shah Pahlavi, reigning from 1925 to 1941) came to power and Iran was opening itself to the European style. He immediately decided that women could take the chadors off. Iran suddenly became fantastic and my parents began to enjoy it. Finally, they decided to stay there. Because my parents came from Russia, I loved ballet, art and classical music. I was very much influenced in that direction since childhood.

O. P.: Your biography says that your father was a visionary inventor. What was he doing more precisely?

Onik Sahakian: He invented surgical instruments; they did not have these things in Iran. For example, he designed the special gynecological table for the women who were having a child. He was an inventor. He was also the first person in Tehran to design baby carriages and before you know it everybody wanted to have one of those for their children, so my father became very soon a very wealthy person.

O.P.: Where was your father born?

Onik Sahakian: He was born in Russia; all my family comes from Russia. Almost all of them were born in Moscow and some of them in Sankt Petersburg. My aunt, for example, was born in Sankt Petersburg, but she studied in Switzerland. My father died of pneumonia when I was six months old, so I never met him. Then my mother got married to an Armenian and we moved to the Caspian Sea. But I was born in Tehran and I lived in an old, ancient Greek style house. You can recognize this ancient Greek style when you enter it from the street. You have a hallway, you have two steps, you descend to the courtyard. There, you have a swimming pool in the middle and all the houses surround the courtyard. This was really fabulous. I spent most of my childhood in that particular house. Just after World War II, my mother decided to remarry. I was about nine years old, because I remember that I used to go to buy Russian newspapers for my uncle, to see what was going on.

O. P.: Were you speaking Russian in the family?

Onik Sahakian: Some of them were speaking Russian, others were speaking French. My father’s relatives were speaking French at home and my mother’s relatives were speaking Russian and German. After she got married, my mother left Tehran and I stayed with my grandmother. And three months later I went to visit her, to the Caspian Sea, but my stepfather was not very happy about this situation. He didn’t want me to stay there.

O. P.: Didn’t you get along with your stepfather?

Onik Sahakian: We had a terrible relationship. A disgusting relationship! Every day I was told what to do. Obviously I was not allowed to dance, to do anything with my art. Nothing! He just wanted me to work in his shop, to clean windows for him! I didn`t want to do those things!

“I could not breathe anymore!”

After almost three disastrous years, I couldn’t breathe anymore! I didn’t want to be a problem for my mother, I didn’t want to be the instrument of their marriage. I understood the fact that my mother, as a woman, needed a man. She was claiming that she got married in order for me to have a father. He was not a father for me! He was a miserable bastard. He was really disgusting!

“And I stood there listening and before I knew it I was praying with them!”

So I did something very interesting. In Iran people were very religious. My neighbors were highly religious and every Friday night they were praying for Imam Reza, is the most important Imam. They claimed that if you believed in him, if you prayed for him, he would help you. And they also said that if you were a young boy and you lost your father he would come and help you very quickly. I remember that day so well. It was a windy day and the wind was blowing so hard that I couldn’t even walk. And I heard those people praying and I remember Imam Reza very well. I stood there listening and before I knew it I was praying with them. But the thing is that I was praying to Imam Reza (he`s crying).

“Anyway, that night Imam Reza appeared in my dreams. It was fantastic. He was in my room with a horse. It was amazing, it was so fantastic. He was in my room with a horse. I couldn`t believe it. I mean I was looking to this guy. Oh, my God! A man with a white horse. He said: “You called for me? If you like to change your life I would advise you to get out of this house now!” He said: “Get out of here, this is not for you!”

“I am divorcing you. You are no longer my mother!”

And two days later I was so strong that I ran away from the house. I ran away from my mother, back to my grandmother. I didn’t have any money to go back, I was a child. It is amazing! Finally, my mother didn’t know what had happened. I told my mother: “I am divorcing you. You are no longer my mother!”

O. P.: So you decided to leave even though you were only twelve years old?

Onik Sahakian: I was twelve years old. So I didn’t have money to go to Tehran. My aunt was married and was also living at the Caspian Sea. She took me to Tehran. My aunt used to make dancing costumes for me. So finally I left the house and I didn’t see my mother for more than twenty years.

O. P.: Didn’t she try to contact you?

Onik Sahakian: When I arrived in Tehran I immediately started to prepare my documents in order to go to the United States of America. This was not easy at that time. It was very complicated. You had to bribe lots of people to get a passport. And, Jesus, corruption was very serious in Iran. One of my uncles helped me obtain my passport; I got my Visa as a student. I received 25 dollars, just to have it in my pocket. I left Iran in 1956.

O. P.: You were 20 years old…

Onik Sahakian: I arrived to America and there was my uncle, my father’s brother, and my grandmother, my father’s mother. They left Iran in 1953. I went to school. If you were a good student you had the permission to work four hours a day, twenty hours a week. I found a job at the theater, as an actor. I was earning 30 dollars a week and I found a room, near my school. The rent was 30 dollars a month. And on top of that I began drawing. I was making black and white drawings, ink drawings, Chinese drawings and I used to go to antique stores and say: “I have this drawing, do you think it is possible to sell it?” Two days later, they called me: “We sold all your drawings. Do you have more?” I was earning money from my drawing, from my job and at the same time I had to pay my university. Lots of people were buying my drawings. I was helping my friends with money and I didn’t receive anything from anyone.

O. P.: Did you have a lot of friends during that time?

Onik Sahakian: I had a lot of interesting friends. I was never alone. Young people, old people. My teachers wanted to be with me all the time. I surrounded myself with fantastically interesting people and at the end of the semester I became performing. That is why I became very popular. My life changed completely when I moved from Iran to America, I mean they were different cultures. I was a young man with Iranian-Muslim Orthodox roots, living in Iran, and suddenly I woke up in a completely different culture.

O. P.: In this context, how did you manage to create or maintain your own identity? How did you try to keep it? Were you the one who influenced others or did others influence you?

Onik Sahakian: I think I influenced them. All journalists wanted to see me. Before that, Dali used to come to New York and I had a friend, Sebu, who always came to see my performances when I was in Tehran. He was Russia’s royal family hair dresser and he left to America. He was working for the Revlon house and all the stars, all the VIP’s went to him. Dali was also going to Sebu’s parlor. Once, Dali asked Sebu to make him look like Velasquez and Sebu waxed his moustache. And one day I was talking to Sebu and I told him I wanted to meet Dali. He said “ok, when he comes to my parlor I’ll call you there”. I was living in Los Angeles at that time. And one day Sebu told Dali that he had a cousin who wanted to meet him. He said “Really? But is he an ordinary boy or is he a crazy boy?”, Dali asked. Sebu said; “Oh, no. He`s totally crazy”. And Dali said “Dali is very interested in meeting him!”

O. P.: Why did you want to meet Dali? Were you familiar with his art?

Onik Sahakian: You know, when I was a child I used to love surrealist artists. I was acquainted with Dali’s work only from books. So I went to New York to meet Dali. I arrived there in the afternoon and I entered the parlor. Dali was sitting there with hair curlers on his head. Dali didn`t have much hair but Sebu used to put on these big rollers. I entered the room, wearing a velvet jacket and a big bow-tie. I mean, I was feeling like I was on stage. I did some pirouettes and sat right in front of him, on my knees. He couldn’t believe it! “Hahaha”. And he took his cane and knighted me. Everybody was: “My God!”. And he got up from his chair and said: “Bravo, bravo!”. He gave me two kisses and from that day we never left each other’s side. I mean never. I had to be near Dali everyday. I swear. He never left me alone. This was happening in 1958. I had come to America in 1956. But I was still attending school and I was going to New York once a year. I graduated from school in 1964 and I lived in Los Angeles until 1969. That year I decided to move to New York for dancing and concerts. So I went to New York, a very difficult place to live in, because of the competition. But I did not care about those things. I wasn`t worried about those things. Luck was on my side! I stayed with Sebu until I found an apartment. I soon started to design my jewelry. When I arrived to New York, I wrote a letter to Tiffany House saying that I was a dancer and that I designed jewelry. I also told them I would come to New York and that I wanted to work for them as a designer. Nobody answered my messages except Van Cleef&Arpel Jewelry, but I didn’t work very well with them. They didn’t give me a salary, only a commission.

O. P.: Where did your passion for jewelry come from?

Onik Sahakian: I always had it. I used to design my own dancing costumes. I designed something for Cleef &Arpel Jewelry, with an oriental look. I wasn’t earning well. But there was a lady in New York, her name was Suzy Mita Barker, and she was a very important columnist. She used to write gossip columns. She was very powerful and Sebu was her stylist. And he told me that Suzy would go to Mexico: “It’s the inauguration of the president, why don`t you design something fantastic for her?”. I designed something fabulous, really marvelous and when she was there everybody asked her: “Oh, Suzy, my God, where did you get this necklace?” and she said it was conceived by a new designer who had come to New York. “His name is Onik”. And there was Kenneth Lane, the person to whom I had sent a letter that was never answered. When he returned to New York, I immediately received a letter from him saying that he wanted to work with me. I still have it. I read that letter twenty times. I couldn’t believe it. And we met and he asked me to design a line for him in two weeks. He took me to the factory and introduced me to everyone. I had to create 100 pieces. I earned a lot of money in 1975. I worked for Kenneth Lane for six months and after that I started my own business: Onik Designs Ltd. In 1974 I created a piece of jewelry for Nixon`s wife. But at that time the Watergate scandal had already started. America was becoming bankrupt. The situation was very bad for five years. I lost a lot of money.

O. P.: How did you feel? You were an only child when you came to America and then, suddenly, you had all that you had wanted and then you lost it…

Onik Sahakian: I knew that it was a bad dream. And then things started to work up. In 1981 I met an old friend. Things happen for a reason. I started to sell paintings. Afterwards, I received an offer for a business in the oil industry, from my upstairs neighbor. In 1983 and 1984 I was making 15.000 dollars a day from this oil business. In 1986 I moved to Portugal and I sold everything.

O. P.: You told me about your job, your profession. But what happened in your personal life?

Onik Sahakian: I lived alone all my life. I have nine cats. I’ve been dedicated to my profession all my life. I never felt in love. I mean, I felt in love with love. Really, I mean it. I have great friends. I never really wanted to settle. Now I am too old to get married.

O. P.: So you were always alone…

Onik Sahakian: No, never alone. I had my music, my friends and the museums. I didn’t have time to be alone. I know I need someone but I have lost my passion.

O. P.: There must have been someone in your life. Maybe when you were a student you had someone?

Onik Sahakian: In 1960 I had a girlfriend named Sheila. We were together almost all the time. She was a good guitarist and she used to paint, but she was lazy. We got married in 1960. I was married but not for a very long time. We never fought. We were married for three years. She stayed in Chicago and she didn’t like to do anything. After the marriage she was a completely different person. Sometimes I feel like I need someone. But I haven`t really met anyone.

O. P.: Tell me about your meetings with Dali. What are your memories of him?

Onik Sahakian: During the time I spent with Dali I learned how to professionalism and disciplined. That’s for sure. Working with Dali taught me how to become professional: to be on time, to do things properly. You had to stay with him many years to learn this. Some people hated him. You can’t please everybody. Some people tell me that they recognize the Dali’s style in my paintings. That is because I studied with him. The whole idea is that people don’t understand art. When I pay homage to Dali I make my pictures and bring Dali into them. This is the whole idea of the homage. The idea of my paintings is silence and space.

O. P.: Why silence?

Onik Sahakian: Because we need silence – that tranquility that allows us to live comfortably. If you have lots of problems, if there is a lot of noise you will be completely exhausted. You need to relax. I strongly believe in the power of being. This is God. Sun is God.

O. P.: Do you have special memories of Dali, something that you kept only for yourself? If you stood now in front of Dali, what would you say to him? “Dali was for me…” and please try to pretend that I am not here.

Dali was for me a great teacher, a Guru. For example, I remember that he wanted to make a butterfly for me. And he made me a butterfly. I kept it in my house. A friend of mine came into my house and told me he had a friend who collects butterflies. He said he would give me five thousand dollars for it. But he also needed Dali’s signature in order to evaluate it. And he took it to Dali. And Dali asked him: “Where did you get this?”, and the guy told him that he had got it from a dealer. We had a real fight. I threw the butterfly right in his face. I did a lot of things for Dali for free – all the jewelry. He never gave me anything. And I also created pieces of jewelry for his wife. Gala never appreciated all the things I did for her and Dali would never give a painting for free. Although I made all the sculptures for him, the wings for the paintings, he never gave me anything. I did everything for Dali. I hadn’t spoken to him until he called me.

O. P.: You remind me of a character from “Bitter Moon”, by Pascal Bruckner: be aware not to lose yourself in another one’s personality.

Onik Sahakian: I couldn’t. He was too selfish. I couldn’t be like Dali. He was extremely selfish. He wouldn’t help anybody. Ever. He knew that I didn’t need anything. He took advantage of almost everybody, he completely ignored everyone. I was meeting Dali every day. He was not able to write a check. Gala created Dali! Gala was a really important person for Dali, but they were like cats and dogs. They used to fight all the time.

Box: Professional background

Onik Sahakian obtained a grant at the prestigious Fine Arts Institute of Tehran. His artwork has brought him numerous academic distinctions, including a Masters Degree and Achievement Award from Chouinard School in Los Angeles in 1964, the “Who’s who in the World’, Men of Achievement from IBC Cambridge, United Kingdom, in 1986, and the Diploma de Academia Correspondente de Arts from the Academia das Letras e Artes in Lisbon in 1992.