Charles Garo Tatossian
August 16, 1925 - December 22, 2016

Charles Garo Tatossian, celebrity artist and long-time pride of the Armenian community, passed away peacefully December 22, 2016 at 91-years of age.

He is predeceased by his beloved wife of 63-yrs, Anahid (Ashodian) Tatossian, and their son, world renowned artist, and member of the Royal Canadian Academy, Armand Tatossian. He leaves to mourn his children Rose, George and Mary and their children Anais, Charles, and Jessica along with many other friends, relatives as well as innumerable students and peers.

Garo, is best known for his instructional yet entertaining television show “Le Plaisir de Peindre” hosted for a record breaking 16-years (1980-1996).  Garo taught painting to thousands of art lovers and amateurs both at McGill and Concordia University Continuing Education Centers as well as numerous community centres throughout the Greater Montreal and Quebec Region. Best known for his portraits and commissioned work, Garo’s Murals and Frescos can be found in a multitude of Churches both in Alexandria, Egypt and in throughout Quebec. Additionally, Garo generously donated his artwork to innumerable charitable organisations in order to help those in need.

Born in Alexandria, Egypt, Garo comes from a long lineage of fine artists. A prodigy, Garo was invited to the Palace in Egypt at the tender age of ten years old and commissioned to execute the portrait of King Farouk who himself but a child at the time. His uncle Yeghiche Tatossian, an Armenian landscape painter who traveled to Paris to study Post-Impressionis, ultimately returning to Armenia to bring the style home. Garo’s father Armand Tatossian Senior, was himself an artist and curator of the Museum of Alexandria.  Two of Garo’s four children followed in the family tradition. His daughter Rose, a commercial artist, took over her father’s shop and gives paintings lessons. And, of course, Garo’s son, the late Armand Tatossian, renowned artist of Canadian-Armenian of unparalleled talent and artistic vision who had the honor of being the youngest member ever accepted into the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts (R.C.A.) in 1973 who passed away suddenly in 2012.