Scene from the Train Window 1960

Martiros Sarian made this watercolour called Scene from the Train Window, and it feels like the colour itself is the subject. It's a kind of loosey-goosey, drippy rendering. Look at the way the red bleeds into the grey, then the blue, it makes a strange atmosphere. Sarian’s working with the accidents, the unpredictable flow of the watery paint as a way of finding form. I love the way he evokes the buildings and the figures in just a few deft strokes. The red tower becomes an anchor for the whole composition. The figures in the foreground are barely there, but they have so much character. This reminds me a little of Raoul Dufy's work, with its bright colours and playful sense of line. Both artists seem to be interested in capturing the joy of life in their paintings. Ultimately, the beauty of art lies in its ability to embrace ambiguity. There is no single “right” way to interpret a work of art, and that’s what makes the conversation interesting.