The street 1929

Martiros Sarian painted “The Street” with oil, and who knows exactly when, but the confident signature says 1929. The whole picture vibrates with ochre, like the sun’s been hitting it hard. Check out how the colours blend, but not completely, so you can still see the brushstrokes. There’s a real sense of the artist figuring it out as he goes, adjusting the colours. Look at that red shape of the central figure. It dominates the whole painting. It's a veil or a cloak or maybe just the way Sarian felt about the scene. The textures and colours are all about feeling, like a memory that's a bit fuzzy but still powerful. He’s doing his own thing with colour, not trying to copy anything. This painting reminds me of Henri Matisse, another artist who was all about colour and feeling. But Sarian has his own vibe, a bit more raw and immediate, a bit more Fauvist. It feels like he is trusting his gut and leaving all the good bits in!