Van Soghomonyan was born in 1937 in Tbilisi, Georgia.

He received his first artistic education at the Tbilisi Art College named after Yakob Nikoladze (1956–1958). He continued his studies at the Yerevan State Institute of Theatre and Fine Arts (1963–1968) — today the Academy of Fine Arts — where his artistic language was formed, combining plastic expressiveness, spiritual symbolism, and philosophical depth.

Since 1971, he had been a member of the Union of Artists of the USSR and the Republic of Armenia.

Starting from the 1970s, Van Soghomonyan actively participated in international exhibitions and symposia, representing Armenian art at major forums of contemporary art in Italy, France, Germany, Switzerland, the USA, Japan, Hungary, Poland, the USSR, and other countries.

By the 1980s, he had become one of the leading masters of contemporary ceramics, earning diplomas and the First Prize (1983) at the International Ceramics Competition in Faenza, Italy.

In 1992, the artist moved to Wiesbaden, Germany, where he lived and worked for three decades. Together with his wife, artist Nona Gabrielyan, he founded the Kunst Atelier V&N (1992–2022) — an important creative space that brought together artists from different countries and generations.

The Atelier made a significant contribution to the cultural life of Wiesbaden, organizing numerous solo and group exhibitions and introducing German audiences to contemporary Armenian art.

Since 1998, he had been a member of the Federal Association of Artists of Germany (BBK), and since 1999, a member of the International Academy of Ceramics, Association KERAMOS (Warsaw, Poland).

Selected Solo Exhibitions

1986, 2018, 2023 — Union of Artists of Armenia, Yerevan

2020 — “Man and Biosphere”, Union of Artists of Armenia, Yerevan

2013, 2008, 2004, 1996, 1994, 1993 — Christian Zeiss Hall, Wiesbaden, Germany

1980, 2013 — Museum of Modern Art, Yerevan, Armenia

2006 — National Gallery of Armenia, Yerevan

2003 — City Hall, Wiesbaden, Germany

2002 — Art im Salztor Gallery, Hamburg, Germany

2002, 1997, 1995 — Kreisgallery, Bergheim, Germany

2000 — City Gallery, Old City Hall, Fürstenwalde, Germany

1999 — Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris, France

1999 — Galerie Artitude, Paris, France

1997 — GRS-Centre, Cologne, Germany

1994 — City Gallery, Halle an der Saale, Germany

1994 — Museum of Ceramics, Frechen, Germany

1987 — Union of Artists of Armenia, Yerevan

1986 — Cultural Center of Armenia, Moscow

Selected Group Exhibitions and Competitions

2022 — 50th Anniversary of the Museum of Modern Art, Yerevan

2015 — Art of Eastern Europe, Wallau, Germany

2013 — Paintings of Eastern Europe, Main-Taunus-Gallery, Hochheim, Germany

1980–1999 — International Ceramic Competitions Della Ceramica d’Arte, Faenza, Italy — Diplomas and 1st Prize (1983)

1978–1980 — International Ceramic Biennale Biennale Internationale de Céramique d’Art, Vallauris, France

1998 — Ocean, Palais des Nations, Geneva, Switzerland

1992 — Contemporary East European Ceramics, Philadelphia, Atlanta, New York, USA

1985 — Retrospective of Armenian Art, Academy of Arts, Moscow and St. Petersburg

1973 — Armenian Contemporary Art, Tokyo, Japan

Symposia

2001 — International Ceramic Symposium, Halle an der Saale, Germany

1988 — International Ceramic Symposium, Kecskemét, Hungary

1984, 1976 — International Symposia, Dzintari, Lithuania

1981 — International Ceramic Symposium, Römhild, Germany

1990 — Memorial to the Memory of 1915, marble and bronze, Khartoum, Sudan

2013 — Monument “Friendship”, granite, Meghri, Armenia

Collections

National Gallery of Armenia, Yerevan

Museum of Modern Art, Yerevan

Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute, Yerevan

National Museum of Ethnography, Sardarapat, Armenia

Zimmerli Art Museum, New Jersey, USA

State Museum of Oriental Art, Moscow, Russia

All-Russian Museum of Decorative Arts, Moscow, Russia

International Museum of Ceramics, Faenza, Italy

International Ceramics Studio, Kecskemét, Hungary

Keramikmuseum, Römhild, Germany

Moritzburg Museum, Halle an der Saale, Germany

Sergey Parajanov Museum, Yerevan, Armenia