Scene from the Train Window 1960

Martiros Sarian made this watercolour painting, sometime, maybe, in the middle of the last century, conjuring a scene from a train window with washes of blue, gold, green and terracotta. I can almost feel the wetness of the brush, and the way it moved, pulling those colours across the paper. You can see the quick decisions, the intuitive leaps, the way each colour bleeds into the next. It is like a visual diary, recording a fleeting moment, a landscape seen in transit. I imagine Sarian, jolting along, trying to capture the essence of the scene. Did he keep adding water, again and again, making the colours translucent? Maybe he wanted to convey the speed and changeability of seeing something from a train. The layering of colour creates depth and texture, the blues of the sky contrasting with the yellows and reds of the landscape. It reminds me of Turner's landscapes, where the light seems to dissolve the forms, turning the world into pure sensation. Painting is all about the exchange of ideas across time, and the ongoing conversation between artists.