Poppies 1958

Martiros Sarian painted these Poppies in 1958. The brushstrokes are so clear and distinct – you can see the individual marks that build up the image, like little blocks of color carefully placed together. I wonder, what was Sarian thinking when he made this? It feels like he wanted to capture the essence of the flowers, not just their appearance. Like, what does it *feel* like to see poppies in a field? I bet he mixed thick paint with a brush loaded with color, and then daubed it onto the canvas, one stroke at a time. The texture is so important here – you can almost feel the roughness of the paint, the way it catches the light. The way he uses color, too – the bright, almost electric red of the petals against the cool blue background – it creates a sense of vibrancy, of life bursting forth. It reminds me of Matisse, the way he used color to create a sense of joy and exuberance. Painting, I think, is a conversation between artists across time. Each one builds on what came before, adding their own voice to the mix. And in the end, it's about embracing the unknown, trusting that something beautiful will emerge.