A Sensual Art

Hrair Diarbekirian, is an artist that needs no introduction, nor does his art, which is a mystical combination of exquisite beauty and a festival of colors bursting from the canvas. His work transports anyone lucky enough to stand before any of his large canvases to a world far from our own.

The world we are taken to is one of sensual restraint, of charming poise, regal calmness, and of golden-haired princesses and angelic figures. From his canvases the unbridled force of wild horses seems to leap out with the force of a torrential downpour of color and extravagance.

No holds are barred, and yet it is in the smallest details that this artist’s genius truly lies. It is in understanding the true magic behind a woman’s allure. It is not in tight fitting and revealing garments, as is so often mistaken for sensuality in our day and age, but it is, in fact, in revealing very little.

I had the pleasure of meeting the artist early in my journalistic career. He held a press conference at the Crown Plaza in Dubai to announce an upcoming exhibition of his. It seems like so long ago now. The man struck me as genuinely warm and welcoming, generous with his admirers and the public as he is in his paintings and his art.

I remembered him today because I saw two of his smaller works at the offices of a gentleman I was interviewing for a story. The works were stunning, even in their diminutive size, they revealed so much. The kaleidoscope of browns, reds, gold and turquoise revealed a richness and complexity even in such a small canvas.

The hands of one maiden were folded, crossed in front of her. Her long swelling garments indicate she is of some alien world of great beauty and power. Nothing is told in great detail. Her sculpted alabaster arms are exposed from the elbow down to the tips of her fingers. Her elongated soft yellow-white neck meets her face at a gentle angle, a face elongated and softly curve, her golden hair full and curled, her demeanor regal, the mighty horse in the background. So much told on so little canvas, that is real genius.


A gift from the artist

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