Yield of potatoes 1934

Martiros Sarian made this painting, "Yield of Potatoes" in 1934, and it’s a total celebration of process, you can see that in the loose brushstrokes and joyful colour palette. There's a real physicality to the way he’s applied the paint, a kind of chunky directness. The surface is alive with these marks, especially around the people, who are picking up the yield. Look at the way the red of their robes almost vibrates against the cool blues and greens of the landscape. There’s this great passage in the lower left, these earthy browns and greens, that create this sense of depth and texture, it’s like you can feel the soil. Sarian’s got this way of capturing the essence of a scene with such a simple, direct approach, a bit like Matisse in his landscapes. It’s a testament to the idea that art isn’t about perfect representation but about capturing something essential and fleeting.