Scenery sketch for Mussorgsky's opera "Khovanshchina" 1920

Nicholas Roerich made this scenery sketch for Mussorgsky's opera "Khovanshchina" with what looks like charcoal or graphite, simple stuff. I love how a few lines can suggest something vast. It reminds you that art making is about a process of suggestion, not exact representation. This sketch, it's all about mood, right? The texture is soft, smudgy, like a memory. Look at the sky – those dark, scribbled lines. It feels heavy, maybe a storm's coming, or maybe it's just the weight of history bearing down. Then you've got these towers, drawn with such a delicate hand, they could almost disappear into the mist. There's one on the left, with these funny details, like little hats. The whole piece feels like a stage set waiting for the drama to begin. Roerich was a theosophist. You can see how his spiritual interests influenced his stage design. It makes me think a little bit of Odilon Redon, who was also making work with charcoal, with a similar feeling of mystery and inner experience. With art, it is all about creating your own story.