Armenian Mountains 1962

Martiros Sarian made this drawing, Armenian Mountains, using pencil, maybe even coloured pencil, to depict a majestic landscape. You can see how the pencil lines build up the forms of the mountains, kind of scratchy and energetic. I can imagine Sarian outside, maybe squinting in the sun, quickly capturing the essence of this place he clearly loved. There's a softness to it, too, like he’s inviting us to feel the warmth of the sun on our skin and imagine the crisp mountain air. Look at how the strokes overlap. Those subtle layers and slight changes in pressure – they give the mountains a sense of depth, like they are receding into the distance. You can see the influence of artists like Cezanne in the way the landscape is constructed through planes of tone and texture. I’d imagine the colours of Sarian’s homeland were something he was forever trying to capture, like many artists before and after him.