Happy Valentine’s Day! And early birthday wishes for Martiros Sarian (1880 – 1972) who was born on February 16, (February 28, New style) 1880.
Educated in Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, Martiros Sarian was one of the most widely known Armenian painters.. French poet Louis Aragon once called Sarian “a painter of happiness” (“Soviet Art” Magazine, 1960, No 3, pp 7).
Sarian painted blurred and ghost-like forms, creating dream-like works depicting the poetic nature of the scenes. As seen in this work entitled “Love, Fairy Tale,” the figures are also a blur of ages, genders, and races.
In Armenian culture, the gazelle (or sometimes Caspian red deer, also called “maral”) stands for beauty. “Gazel, derived from the Arabic ‘ghazăl,’ is an image most commonly used in Arabic literature through its association with female beauty. Especially in Arabic love poetry, it is frequently compared to the beloved. Both the gazelle and the maral are often used in manuscripts and poetic literature as symbols of a lover or beloved.” (Google Arts & Culture: East in Fairy Tales and Dreams: The Magical and Dreamy Caucasus by Martiros Sarian)
Love, fairy tale Alternate Title: Amour, conte de fées Sarian, Martiros, 1880-1972, Armenian [artist] Watercolor on paper 24 x 17 cm. Culture: Armenian 1906 Repository: Martiros Sarian Museum, Yerevan, Armenia HOLLIS number: olvwork301573
This image is part of FAL’s Digital Images and Slides Collection (DISC), a collection of images digitized from secondary sources for use in teaching and learning. FAL does not own the original artworks represented in this collection, but you can find more information at HOLLIS Images.
