Flowers 1941

"Flowers" is most likely an oil painting by Martiros Sarian, and look at the way he's really gone to town with yellows, whites, and deep reds, hitting all the registers of the color spectrum. I can imagine Sarian standing in front of his canvas, maybe squinting a little, mixing and remixing on his palette until the colors just sing. See how the paint is laid on pretty thickly? It's not just about depicting flowers, but making them come alive with a kind of raw, pulsating energy. Those dabs of color aren't just petals; they're like little explosions of feeling. I'm drawn to the bottom right corner; the dark reds bunch together and droop slightly over the vase, it’s a small gesture with so much feeling. You can feel the weight of those flowers, the fullness of the moment. Painters, we're all in this ongoing conversation, you know? One artist looks at another, takes something, and then twists it, turns it, and makes it their own. With painting, there's a space for all sorts of interpretations to bloom, much like these flowers in front of you.