Minas Avetisyan was born in the village of Jajur, Armenia. His mother, Sofo, was a daughter of the priest from Kars. His father, Karapet, was a smith from Mush. His wife was Gayane Mamajanyan. The main theme of his works was Armenian nature, the nature of Jajur, poor people, mountains, fileds etc.
Avetisyan emerged as an artist at the "Exhibition of Five" in Yerevan (1962). Numerous specialists and visitors to the exhibition apperiated greatly his work. Avetisian's method differs from the method of plein-air painting which was once widespread in Armenian art. For him working form nature is no more than a prelimiary stage. The main portion of the work on the canvas was done in his studio.
In 1972, while Avetisyan was in Jajur with his family, his studio and many of his canvas were burned down. Some of the burned pictures were later reproduced from photographs taken earlier.
In his paintings, Avetisyan uses bright and unmixed colors that are juxtaposed with each other to form bold shapes that are clearly defined.
