Illustration to 'Armenian folk tales' 1937

Martiros Sarian made this illustration to 'Armenian folk tales' with delicate and simple monochrome ink washes. I can imagine him, bent over a table with a small brush, figuring out how to evoke drama with only black ink. Look at the way he suggests movement and emotion. I sympathize with the artist, imagining he wanted to evoke a dark mood, like a shadow play. The shapes are simple, archetypal figures, recalling fairytale illustrations from the past. The waves at the bottom of the image, rendered in a bold, graphic style, add a strong sense of dynamism and unease. A single, confident stroke defines the edge of the hero’s cloak. Sarian's work is like an ongoing conversation. He may have been inspired by Japanese woodblock prints, or even Russian avant-garde book design, and I bet some young artist will later look at this and feel that same spark. Painting’s a form of embodied expression – not fixed, or definitive, but embracing multiple meanings.