He drew and painted in obscurity until his death, in 1999 at the age of 85. Sharing a modest one-story cottage in the Village of Bellport, New York, with his sister Armen, Pinajian depended on her for financial and moral support.

To our knowledge, no articles were written about Pinajian, and he exhibited and sold his paintings only rarely. Despite this neglect, he pursued his art steadfastly and with incredible determination.

The majority of his work was found after his death, stacked up in the one-car garage and attic of his sister's property. Along with the art, his journals, letters, and sketchbooks that spanned the 50 years of his creative life were also discovered. This oeuvre is significant because it represents an artist's life in its totality. Within it is found a prized legacy that will endure for posterity; the remainder will earn the respect of scholars as they study the life of a truly original artist in depth.

Pinajian, the son of Armenian holocaust survivors, was a native of Union City, New Jersey. He started as a cartoonist in the 1930s and found considerable success fashioning comic strips for Quality, Marvel, and Centaur Comics.

After World War II, during which he earned the Bronze Star for valor, he rejected commercial art, attended the Art Students League in New York, and committed himself to the pursuit of serious painting. Before his many years in Bellport with Armen, he rented a studio in Woodstock, New York, and there, as well as in West New York, New Jersey, he began to wrestle with the challenges of being a modern artist.