Poppies 1947

Martiros Sarian made this painting of poppies sometime in his life with what looks like oil paint on canvas. I can almost feel him painting this, shifting and emerging through trial, error, and intuition. Looking at these brushstrokes, I think about what it must have been like for Sarian to stand before the canvas, maybe even with real poppies in front of him. The paint is neither too thick nor too thin, it's juuuuust right, isn't it? There's texture there, but it's not overworked. Look how the colours bleed into each other, it’s a symphony of reds, greens, and blues all harmonizing. It’s not just about seeing the poppies, it's about feeling them. This piece reminds me of other painters like Matisse, who were also obsessed with colour and light. It's like these artists are all in conversation, inspiring each other across time. Painting is this ongoing exchange of ideas, isn't it? It's an embodied expression, full of ambiguity and uncertainty, which allows for so many different ways of seeing and thinking.