Night Landscape. Egypt. 1911

Martiros Sarian made this painting, Night Landscape. Egypt., at some point in his life, and you can tell it has been constructed through layer upon layer of indigo paint. The surface looks almost velvety. When I look at the image, I think about Sarian squinting in the Egyptian night, trying to make sense of the forms he sees. He must have felt an urgency to capture the scene, as the light may disappear any minute. I love the way he’s rendered the tree; the leaves at the top are huge, almost mushroom-like, and the trunk merges with the building. Everything is blue and blurry. He wants to express the feeling of this place more than its actuality. The dog is so mysterious, almost like a shadow. What’s he thinking about? Painters are in a constant conversation. Sarian might have been looking at Gauguin, at Matisse, at Persian miniatures. And now, here we are, looking at him, inspired by his curiosity, his strange take on a landscape.