Shop Fair Old Torun 1973

Petros Malayan painted this bird's eye view of a marketplace in muted greens, browns, and grays. I wonder what it was like to stand there and make this picture. The artist is looking down, way down, to capture this bustling fair. The canvas is crammed with buildings and people - a real hodgepodge of stuff all flattened together. It feels a bit like folk art or a naive painting, but there is something so determined about the composition. Look at the way the buildings jostle for space. It reminds me of those old European cityscapes where everything is just crammed together. And the people! They're like tiny ants, swarming around with purpose. I bet Malayan was thinking about how to capture all that energy, all that life, in one painting. I bet he was smiling to himself.