In Yerevan 1908

Martiros Sarian made this sketch of Yerevan in 1908, probably with charcoal or graphite on paper. It's a study of everyday life. Sarian uses line in a simple, direct way; you can see the confidence in each stroke. Look at the ox in the upper right; it’s almost like an abstract shape, a geometric puzzle. It’s not really about the ox, it’s about how the ox sits on the page. It’s all about the push and pull of the lines, the way they define the space around them. And isn't that the thing about drawing? It's not about what you see but how you see it. How you distill the world into a series of marks. Sarian does this beautifully, giving us just enough to know what we're looking at, but leaving plenty of room for our own imagination. I'm reminded a bit of Picasso's early sketches; there's that same sense of playful exploration. But Sarian has his own distinct voice. A voice that speaks of Armenia, of its people and its landscapes. And it's a voice that invites us to listen closely, to see beyond the surface.