Makhokhian graduated from the academy in 1894 and traveled to the Crimea , where he met with renowned Russian Armenian painter Ivan Aivazovsky in Feodosia . While in Russia , Makhokhian painted various scenes of the sea . He returned to his native Trabzon in 1895 and witnessed the Hamidian massacres . He escaped first to Batum and then to Europe where he began exhibiting his art . One of his first exhibitions was in Berlin in 1900 . In 1904 Makhokhian was accepted into the Berlin Artists ' Association . He traveled to Egypt where he exhibited over 150 pieces of his artwork in Alexandria and Cairo . After a brief stop in Denmark , Makhokhian went to Italy , settled in Capri and continued painting there . He returned to Germany in 1907 and participated in various exhibitions Berlin , Düsseldorf , and Munich
Hamidian massacres
Hamidian massacres
Vartan Makhokhian