He opened his first exhibition prior to the Hamidian massacres where Armenians in Istanbul were massacred en masse . As a result of the unfavorable political conditions of the period , his work failed to arouse interest and support . Due to the massacres against Armenians , Atamian sought refuge in Paris in 1897 . In Paris he illustrated nearly 150 books , including novels by such famous writers as Anatole France , Guy de Maupassant , Henri Bordeaux , and René Bazin and the French translation of B. Litton 's '' The Last Days of Pompei until World War I ''
Hamidian massacres
Hamidian massacres
Charles Garabed Atamian