People 1914

Nicholas Roerich made this painting of people, with gouache and pencil on paper. The colors seem to hover on the surface as if they’re barely clinging on, made up of thin washes of reds, oranges, and yellows. Roerich has a particular approach to the application of his medium. The drawing is so tentative, and thin you almost miss it. Then those areas of blocky bright color give the whole thing a sense of immediacy. But then the drawing is so loose and almost unfinished, like a memory that's fading. Look at the figure in the centre, see how the orange paint is applied as hatching, following the folds of the garment, this is a very efficient way of conveying form without getting bogged down in detail. It makes me think of Marsden Hartley, with their shared interest in folk art, the occult, and a deliberately naive approach to art making. Like Hartley, Roerich shows us that art doesn’t have to be about perfection. Sometimes, it’s the imperfections that make it beautiful.