Blue flowers 1914

Martiros Sarian conjured these blue flowers with visible brushstrokes, a symphony of color and gesture laid down with oil paint. I can just imagine Sarian, his hand moving with the brush, capturing not just the likeness of the flowers but their very essence. Look at how he contrasts the cool blues and greens of the bouquet with the warmth of the red-orange background. There's a push and pull, a dialogue happening on the canvas. The paint is applied with a directness, almost like he's sculpting with color. Those little white dots in the center of the blooms, dabbed on with such confidence. I bet he made a decision to put them there that morning. Sarian's work is a testament to the power of painting, each stroke imbued with the artist's touch. He seems to know that the artist's role isn't to copy nature but to interpret it, to feel it, and then translate that feeling onto the canvas.