Portrait of Anna Akhmatova 1946

Martiros Sarian drew this portrait of Anna Akhmatova in 1946, likely in pencil. The approach is kind of tentative, as if he's feeling his way around her face, trying to find the right lines to capture her essence. I find that very tender. The texture is really interesting, it’s all in the mark-making. Sarian uses these delicate, feathery strokes to build up the form, especially in her hair and around the eyes. See how the lines are so close together, almost vibrating? It gives her face a soft, almost melancholic quality, which I think suits her poetry. The necklace is interesting too - each bead is carefully rendered, but also feels a little bit loose. Maybe that’s how Sarian saw her, both precise and free. This reminds me of some of Giacometti's drawings, where he's constantly searching for the figure, never quite settling on a definitive outline. It's a conversation about how we see, and how we try to capture something that's always moving, always changing.