Sketch of a girl 

Vardges Sureniants sketched this girl with pencil on paper, though we cannot know exactly when. Sureniants lived during a time of intense cultural reevaluation in Armenia, part of the Russian Empire, and was committed to picturing Armenian history and culture. Although we cannot know if she is Armenian, the girl's exoticised depiction in the image could reflect orientalist attitudes of the time, with the loose dress and bare breast. The sketch's incompleteness makes it difficult to define the artist's intentions fully. Was this part of a broader social critique, or simply an aesthetic exploration? To understand Sureniants's work better, one needs to consider the broader context of the Russian Empire in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the development of Armenian national identity, and the place of art within these cultural and political movements. Only through such research can we fully appreciate the layers of meaning embedded in this seemingly simple sketch.