Ararat and Saint Hripsime Church 1945

Martiros Sarian painted Ararat and Saint Hripsime Church, probably in oil on canvas, with visible brushstrokes that feel direct and full of life. I love how he builds the composition with these layered, gestural marks. Look at the way he captures the mountain in the background. It's a symphony of cool purples and grays, applied with broad strokes that somehow manage to convey both the massive scale and the delicate, almost ethereal quality of the snow-capped peak. Then, closer to us, he uses these dabs of vivid greens and yellows for the field in the foreground, creating a vibrant, textured surface that feels almost palpable. The way he renders the figures of the women in the field with such simplified forms is really striking. Sarian's work reminds me a bit of Milton Avery, in that he has this wonderful way of simplifying forms and flattening space, while still capturing the essence of a place. What’s interesting to me is that it's not trying to be realistic in a photographic way but offers something truer in terms of lived experience.