His father, a survivor of the Armenian genocide, was from the predominantly Armenian-populated region of Cilicia within the Ottoman Empire.
In 1952, the Der Haroutunian family settled in the north west of England where his father was head of the Armenian Apostolic Church.
The Der Haroutunian family moved to Beirut, Lebanon for a few years before in 1952 settling in Manchester in North West England when his father was sent as a priest to the Armenian Church there.
Arto's mother was a fantastic cook and the rectory was an open house for any Armenian students and visitors in Manchester.
Arto and his brother Koko, a civil engineer, felt that the 'traditional' Greek-Cypriot food served to the public in Britain at that time was a poor reflection of the true Middle Eastern cuisine and they decided to open a genuine Armenian restaurant in Manchester.
[citation needed] Designed by Arto its simple modern style and rich colours was in stark contrast to that of most of the ethnic eating places of the time.
It was a style for which he became well-known and his architectural practise came to specialise in hotel, club and restaurant design including ones in Manchester and Leeds for the Mario and Franco chain.
It was also a meeting place for a large number of Armenians, both local and visiting, all looking for good food, company and conversation for example the singer Charles Aznavour, writer William Saroyan, actor Kevork Malikyan and conductors and composers Loris Tjeknavorian and Aram Khatchaturian the latter acting as godfather to Arto's son Raffi.
His pictures are full of sinuous lines which flow across the canvasses creating shapes, spaces and depths without much recourse to perspective so showing the influence of ancient Armenian manuscripts.
Along the way he struck up friendships with fellow northern artists Colin Jelicoe, Geoffrey Key, John Picking and Emanuel Levy.
[citation needed] On his return he wrote a book of poems "From the Future to the Past" in response to that highly emotional visit.
[citation needed] Arto's first love was music, but owing to family and financial pressures he studied architecture instead.