Voskevaz Aragats Etude 1954

Petros Malayan made this painting, Voskevaz Aragats Etude, with oil on canvas, and it feels like the culmination of many attempts to capture that mountain, the light on the snow, the way the shadows cut across the fields. I can almost feel the brushstrokes, laid down with quick, confident gestures. There is an incredible sense of the artist trying to find the essence of the landscape. The paint isn't too thick, but it's there, present. Look at how the horizon line vibrates! It’s not flat at all, but alive, made up of many different hues and tones. The fields in the lower section have this subtle lavender hue. It’s not a literal representation, but something felt. I bet Malayan stood there, shivering slightly, trying to capture something fleeting. It reminds me a little of Cezanne, always chasing the light, trying to nail it down. Painting is a conversation, a dialogue between artists across time, each one building on what came before. I see them all up there on that mountain, trying to paint the unpaintable!