October in Yerevan 1961

This is "October in Yerevan" by Martiros Sarian, and it's like stepping into a dream of Armenia. The colours aren't quite real, they’re heightened, a memory of a place, rendered in thick, juicy paint. Look at the way Sarian builds up the forms with these confident strokes. The pomegranates in the foreground are practically glowing, little explosions of red against the muted blues and greens of the landscape beyond. There's a kind of honesty in the application of paint – it's right there on the surface, refusing to hide its own making. It's like Sarian is inviting you to feel the weight of the brush, the pressure of his hand. Sarian reminds me of Milton Avery, both of them unafraid to simplify and intensify what they saw. And like Avery, Sarian shows us that painting isn't just about recording reality, it's about inventing new ones.