Fellah village 1911

Martiros Sarian created this small drawing titled 'Fellah Village' using pencil on paper. The muted tones of the sepia pencil create a sense of stillness, emphasizing the stark geometric shapes of the buildings. The linear perspective gives us a sense of the village's clustered layout. Sarian employs a strategic reduction of form, where buildings are evoked through a series of quickly sketched lines. Notice the deliberate strokes that define the shadowy recesses, giving depth to otherwise flat surfaces. The palm trees are rendered with just a few strokes, their skeletal forms adding a counterpoint to the angular architecture. This drawing reflects a fascination with how simple forms can represent complex structures. The reduction of detail encourages the viewer to engage with the underlying structure of the village, stripping away the non-essential to reveal the basic geometric components. The drawing is not just a depiction but an exploration of form, line, and space, inviting us to consider the semiotic relationships between representation and reality.