A meeting Pushkin with carriage, carrying the body of Griboyedov 1936

Martiros Sarian made this oil on canvas painting, A meeting Pushkin with carriage, carrying the body of Griboyedov, sometime in the 20th century, and it feels like a memory trying to find its shape. There's a realness in the way Sarian layers color, that feels both intuitive and raw. Look at the peaks and troughs of the landscape, patches of peach, slate, and crimson sitting next to each other, like notes in a song. You can almost smell the oil paint. The physicality of this piece is what gets me. It feels like Sarian worked quickly, trusting his gut, laying down marks with confidence. Check out how he renders the rocks, they're not just shapes, but slabs of pure, unadulterated pigment. It reminds me of Marsden Hartley, he had that same knack for turning paint into something solid and alive. Ultimately, it’s a painting that embraces the messiness of life, the ongoing dialogue between color, form, and feeling.