Saryan's ogriginal and innovative art always evoked controversial opinions. In 1941, the artist was awarded the State Prize for designing the Almast opera by A.Spendiarov (its new performance was staged in the frames of the decade of Armenian art in 1939 in Moscow). In 1947, the Academy of artists of USSR was established, and Saryan became its member. But at the same time he was accused of formalism - the most terrible verdict for the artist of that time (1948). The Soviet Art journal stated that Saryan's art was 'the armenianized version of the French bourgeois formalism' and could not be considered national'.
It was a hard experience for Saryan to be subjected to slashing criticism. In an outburst of pain and disappointment he cut one of his best canvases ‘Big Oriental Still Life’. Fortunately, young artists who were always around Saryan snatched out the pieces of this canvas from the painter. Later the painting was restored, but the hems could still be noticeable.
In 1951, Saryan went to 'Uzkoye' sanatorium near Moscow for heart treatment. Gradually he recovered and his great love to art returned him to painting. During these years, Saryan's interest in the portrait genre continued. A great number of prominent figures of Armenian and Russian culture and science were portrayed. These were the portraits of those ones who created the culture of Soviet country and whose significance is important till nowadays. Saryan painted the portraits of architect T.Toromanyan (1934, the National Gallery of Armenia), A.Tamanyan (1933, the National Gallery of Armenia), ballerina G. Ulanova, poet М.Lozinski, academicians H.Acharyan (1943, the National Gallery of Armenia), S.Malkhasyan (1943, the National Gallery of Armenia), I.Orbeli (1943, the National Gallery of Armenia), pianist K.Igumnov (1934, the National Gallery of Armenia), producer S. Eisenstein (1940, private collection, Yerevan), poetess A. Akhmatova, writer I. Erenburg, poet A. Issahakyan (1940, the National Gallery of Armenia) composers A.Khachatryan (1944, the Museum of Oriental Art, Moscow), and D.Shostakovich (1963, the Saryan Museum).
In the 1950's, Saryan painted others of his not so prominent contemporaries who went through dramatic events of the epoch. Working at the portrait Saryan never compelled the model to sit in an artificial pose for a long time. He talked with them about exciting and painful items, which would lead them to take the natural pose and countenance most characteristic for them. That was immediately grasped by the artist who used to finish the portraits in two sittings. In each person's eyes portrayed by Saryan one can read the history of the time.
When N.S.Khrushchev came to power, the situation in art has changed. Saryan was able to breathe freely. His interest in landscapes creating at the open air that had been outlined in his creative method since 1952 acquired further development. The artist traveled throughout Armenia once again creating a series of landscapes in Dvin (1952), in Sevan (1953) and in Byrakan (1957-1958). Yet again, Mount Ararat rises in the artist's paintings - two-peaked biblical mountain in the shine of sun beams. The painter sustained the ability to observe, amaze, admire, and rejoice in every unique instant of life. The works of this period were included in the series 'My Motherland', for which Saryan was awarded the Lenin prize in 1961.
The 85th jubilee of the artist was widely marked in 1965. His personal exhibitions were organized in Moscow and Yerevan. Saryan was awarded a Hero of Socialistic Labor. Armenfilm studio created the "Martiros Saryan" film (director L.Vagarshyan, author of the text I. Ehrenburg).
In 1966, Saryan received the State Prize of the Armenian SSR. The artist's collection of memoirs From My Life was published in Armenian and later edited in four languages. In November of 1967, the Martiros Saryan House-museum was opened in Yerevan. Painter's personal exhibitions were held in Romania, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and GDR.
A. Kamenski, the author of numerous articles about M.Saryan, neatly noted:' Saryan responded in equally the same way to both great success and reckless attacks by standing near his easel and creating new works'. Saryan went on creating until the last days of his life. In 1969, an expression of a new, cosmic vision of the world could be observed in Saryan's paintings (a response to the first flights to space). The stylistics of his works modified. ‘The Earth’ (1969) and ‘Fairy Tale’ (1971) convey the perception of the infinity of the Universe. 'The conquest of technical progress has stunned so many people that they even started speaking about art dying out', said Saryan. 'Well, I think art is in demand nowadays as never before. What else, if not art, is able to humanize and make all the outstanding discoveries of science and technology more conceivable to people?' (“Saryan about Art”, p.43).
In 1971-1972 Saryan created a series of felt-tip drawings in which the artist's return to the harmonious melodies of his early series 'Fairy Tales and Dreams' is evident. Still, these drawings are different due to some meditative immersion in the images of Armenian nature, which were in the heart and memory of the artist. The final drawing is dated by the Master 04 - 04 -72, which was a month prior to his death.