Sketch of book cover 'Martiros Saryan' 1935

Martiros Saryan made this book cover sketch with watercolour and ink, and you can really see the process. The first thing that hits you is this wild bouquet of botanical forms, flowers, and leaves. There's a lovely tension in the way the watery washes of the background stain contrast with the sharp, graphic lines of the plants. Look closely at the large blue and white flower right in the middle. The petals spiral in a hypnotizing way. The brushstrokes are so decisive, and yet the watercolour gives it this translucent, ethereal quality. It's as if Saryan is capturing not just the image of the flower, but its very essence. Saryan's work reminds me a little of Hilma af Klint, in the way that they both use organic forms to evoke something beyond the visible world, something mystical. The beauty of art is that it doesn't have to explain everything. It can just be a glimpse, an echo, a feeling.