Yenovk Der Hagopian was born in Ishkhanikom , Western Armenia , near Van , Turkey . His father , Hagop , was a priest at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross . During the Armenian Genocide , Yenovk and his family fled to Yerevan with the help of an American missionary . In 1916 , he studied art in Tiflis , was later employed with the Near East Relief Foundation , and served as the director of two orphanages in Nor Bayezid and Yerevan between 1918-1923 . Der Hagopian walked with a limp his entire life , carrying a bullet in his leg from his time in the military during the February Uprising . He married Nevart Kalarchian in August 1948 , and later moved to Yonkers , New York together where they lived for over a decade . In 1923 , Der Hagopian immigrated from Turkey to United States , eventually settled in Boston , and later met Arshile Gorky in Watertown , Massachusetts who found him a job at the Hood Rubber Factory . He also attended courses at the Massachusetts School of Art studying painting and drawing , in addition to the Copley Society Art School . In 1930 , Der Hagopian moved to New York City and during the 1930s he participated in group exhibits and solo exhibitions , with his modern oil paintings featured in both New York City and Boston . Most of his subjects were religious , and many focused on the Armenian Genocide of 1915 . In 1939 , he created '' Night in Exile '' , a carving which depicts the plight of an Armenian family ; he later painted a piece with the same title
Armenian Genocide
Armenian Genocide
Yenovk Der Hagopian