In 1913, Bazhbeuk-Melikyan was drafted into the Imperial Russian Army, and spent the World War I years on the Odessa front.

From a later marriage to Lydia (née Meshkorudnikova), he had two more children: a son, Vazgen, and a daughter, Zuleika Bazhbeuk-Melikyan.

In the 1920s, Bazhbeuk-Melikyan was an active participant in the Tbilisi avant-garde, collaborating with Futurists such as the poet Kara-Darvish, and Georgian painters such as David Kakabadze.

[4] In 1935, Bazhbeuk-Melikyan became friends with the nationalist poets Yegishe Charents and Titian Tabidze, which led to the attention of the NKVD.

When, in 1937, the newspaper Dawn of the East published an article naming him an enemy of the people, he was expelled from the Union of Artists of Georgia.

[3] Bazhbeuk-Melikyan is noted for his depiction of female figures; such as magicians, jugglers, exotically costumed women, and nudes.

[4] The circus theme occupied an important place in his oeuvre from his earliest years, and he dedicated much of his talent to its poetic and magical world.

At the same time, Bazhbeuk-Melikyan was inspired by the unique life of the old quarters of the Transcaucasian cities, which he painted in canvases such as the Courtyard with a bear (1925), and Mill in Ortachalah (1930).

In the eternal themes that had appeared to be depleted over the century, he found a new and unexpected twist: in his interpretation, they were infused with a modern feel.

In the 1960s, Bazhbeuk-Melikyan made frequent trips to Yerevan, where he met, befriended and encouraged young Armenian artists, including Minas Avetissian.