Armenian landscape 1934

Martiros Sarian made this landscape of Armenia with pastels, sometime in the twentieth century, and just look at the marks. See how he builds up the scene with these short, almost frantic lines? You get a real sense of the energy in his process. There’s a tactile quality to this piece, isn’t there? The way the pastel sits on the paper, a little rough, a little crumbly. Notice the trees that frame the composition, they’re rendered with these scribbly, urgent marks. It's like the whole landscape is vibrating with life. And the colours, they’re muted but rich, with these blues and greens, and hints of red. They create a mood that’s both serene and a little melancholy. That one red mark on the left person could be seen as the heart of the composition. This piece reminds me a bit of Emil Nolde, that expressionist fervor. It's all about feeling and atmosphere, you know? A reminder that art doesn't have to be precise, it just has to be true.