In the time of leisure 1930

Martiros Sarian made this painting, *In the Time of Leisure*, with oil on canvas sometime in the first half of the 20th century. Look at these broad strokes of pink, blue, and ochre, laid down with the confidence of someone who knows how colours sing together. You can see the building blocks of the image, and sense how the painting might have emerged, stroke by stroke, in the open air. I imagine Sarian standing there, squinting in the sun, trying to capture the scene before him. The thick paint sits on the canvas like a memory of the moment, each dab a decision. The light suggests a hot day, the shade offering respite for the figures at the table, rendered in blocks of colour that somehow convey their quiet presence. Sarian's work reminds me of Matisse, maybe, but with a distinct voice, rooted in his Armenian heritage, reflecting his interest in landscapes. Painters are always looking, borrowing, and riffing off one another, in this ongoing conversation. I love how Sarian embraces the ambiguity of painting, allowing the colours and forms to suggest, rather than define, a specific reading.