Saryan Martiros

Mountain landscape with camels 61x80 cm, oil on canvas, 1926
About work

(Українська) Картина Мартироса Сарьяна “Гірський пейзаж з верблюдами” майстерно зображує велично-монументальну пластику гір, їх плавні обриси займають майже все полотно. Гори на полотні Сарьяна ніби зафіксовані в той час, коли літнє сонце м’яко лягає на їх схили, немов обволікає розплавленим золотом. На передньому плані зображені верблюди.

У творчості Сарьяна звернення до Сходу стало важливим етапом самопізнання. Звернення до верблюдів, як символу східного світу, досить часто зустрічається в картинах майстра.

Як і в більшості пейзажів Сарьяна, робота випромінює сонячне світло, що надає всьому зображенню особливий променистий тон. У картині домінує помаранчевий колір в поєднанні з зеленими і синіми тонами.

“Колір – це справжнє диво, – писав художник. – Колір повинен виражати властиве нам розуміння суті життя. Кольором я сильніше беру побачене, щоб в моїх роботах сильніше звучав світло”.

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Martiros Sarian (1880-1972) was and remains the artistic symbol of Armenia. In the master’s works, the trends of the latest searches of Russian and French painting are closely intertwined with the centuries-old traditions of native Armenian art; this led to the unique originality of the Saryanovsky style. The main theme of the work of Martiros Saryan was the life and nature of Armenia, and the most important genre, along with portrait and still life, was landscape.

Martiros Sergeevich Saryan was born in the Armenian town of New Nakhichevan near Rostov-on-Don. Since 1887, he studied at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture under the direction of A. Korin, L. Pasternak, A. Arkhipov, I. Levitan. Later, V. Serov and K. Korovin became his teachers.

Impressions from trips to Armenia, the best traditions of Russian art, accepted at the school, the study of the works of some of the largest French masters of the late Х1Х-early XX century – all this is transformed in the original style of Saryan’s first independent works. The full name of Martiros Saryan sounded in 1907 when he took part in the Blue Rose exhibition, where P. Kuznetsov, A. Matveev, N. Sapunov, N. Krymov, P. Utkin exhibited his paintings.

In 1908-1914, the master’s works appeared at exhibitions organized by the Golden Fleece magazine, at exhibitions of the art associations World of Art, Union of Russian Artists and others. The paintings “Wisteria”, “Fruit Shop”, later “Street. Noon”, presented at the exhibition of the Moscow Association of Artists in 1910, were acquired by the Tretyakov Gallery. This was a rare case when the gallery acquired the work of a young artist.

A major role in the formation of the picturesque language of Saryan was played by his journey to Egypt (1911), later to the north-west of Armenia (1912), to Persia (1913), to the south of Armenia, Gokhtan (1914). During this period, the artist participated in the second exhibition of post-impressionists in the Grafton Gallery, in London. The first comprehensive article on the work of Saryan was published in 1913 in the journal “Apollon” No. 9, author Maximilian Voloshin.

After 1917, the main theme of Saryan’s work was the life of Armenia. In 1921, the artist and his wife Lusik Aghayan, daughter of the Armenian writer Gazaros Aghayan, moved to Yerevan for permanent residence (1921). Here he organized the State Museum of Archeology, Ethnography and Fine Arts, took part in the creation of the Yerevan Art College and the Association of Fine Art Workers. In 1922, according to the sketches of Saryan, the coat of arms and flag of Soviet Armenia were created.

In 1924, Sarian participated in the “Biennale di Venezia”, and a year later two exhibitions were held in Moscow, “Four Arts”, and in the summer of that year, the paintings left after the 1914 exhibition in Malmö (Sweden) were redirected by I. Grabar to an exhibition of Russian art at the Los Angeles Museum. The paintings of Martiros Sarian were a huge success. He was awarded the title of National Artist of Armenia.

“I certainly wanted to visit the capital of artists – Paris,” Saryan admitted. Arriving in the capital of France in 1926, Saryan twice exhibited his works at exhibitions of Russian and Armenian art, but the main one was his personal exhibition, which opened in January 1928 in the Sh.-O. Girard. On the way back to Armenia, Saryan’s paintings burned on the ship. Only those works that were sold by Saryan in Paris, as well as several sketches that he carried with him, survived.

Martiros Saryan’s painting “Mountain Landscape with Camels” is dated 1926. The artist masterfully depicted the majestically monumental plasticity of the mountains, their smooth outlines occupy almost the entire canvas. The mountains on Saryan’s canvas seem to be fixed at a time when the summer sun gently lays on their slopes, as if enveloping with molten gold. In the foreground are camels. In the works of Saryan, an artist of Armenian origin, turning to the East became an important stage in self-knowledge. Turning to camels, as a symbol of the Eastern world, is quite often found in the master’s paintings. As in most landscapes of Saryan, the work emits sunlight, which gives the whole image a special radiant tone. The picture is dominated by orange in combination with green and blue tones. “Color is a real miracle,” the artist wrote. “Color should express our inherent understanding of the essence of life. With color I take more of what I see so that light can sound more strongly in my work.”

In subsequent years, Martiros Sarian worked with inspiration and fruitfulness. The artist’s works were exhibited at numerous exhibitions in the USSR, as well as abroad – in Vienna, Venice, Stockholm, Bern, Zurich, Copenhagen, New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, etc. For a decorative panel for the USSR pavilion at the World Exhibition in Paris (1937 ) awarded the Grand Prix. Saryan created numerous portraits, combining in them the sharp, sometimes almost grotesque character of his characters, as well as festive still-lifes in color. However, the most important area of ​​creativity in the 40-60s. was a landscape where again appeared

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