Hunting 1937

Nicholas Roerich made this painting, Hunting, with what looks like tempera, maybe sometime in the first half of the 20th century. The first thing you notice is how the mountains are built up with these crystalline facets of colour, almost like painting by numbers, but in a good way. The colour palette is so cool and icy, just blues and whites, with these hints of violet shadow – this is a good lesson in how to make colour do the work of depth and form. I love the way the artist uses these sharp triangular shapes to break down the mountains into planes. Each one feels deliberate, but also spontaneous, as if the landscape revealed itself through the act of painting. The way Roerich simplifies the landscape reminds me a bit of Marsden Hartley, but with a Russian mystical twist. Both artists share this interest in distilling landscapes down to their essential forms and emotional resonance, embracing the power of suggestion over explicit representation. Art is always a conversation between artists.