Steppe flowers 1909

Martiros Sarian made this painting of Steppe Flowers using a muted palette. The colours are earthy, like they came from the very ground the flowers grew in. Sarian’s marks are casual, not overworked. The flowers are loosely defined, like a memory of a bouquet, not a botanical illustration. See that tall stem near the center, with the single dark blue flower at the top? It’s an odd shape, almost like a teardrop, and it stands out against the warm tones around it. It’s a reminder of melancholy amid all the bright floral colours. Sarian reminds me of Milton Avery, who also used simplified forms and colour fields to evoke a mood. Both artists weren’t interested in showing off, but rather in creating a feeling. And like all good art, this painting is more about asking questions than giving answers. What does it mean to capture the essence of a flower, a landscape, a life? The beauty is in the search, not the find.