Banner of the Future 1925

Nicholas Roerich gave us this painting, Banner of the Future, with paint on canvas; just imagine how he put it together. I see an ochre, almost desert-like foreground moving back into deep blue mountains in the background. You can tell Roerich was really feeling the vastness of the landscape. Maybe he wanted to capture how small we are in the face of nature. I bet he was out there, feeling the wind, smelling the earth, and trying to translate that onto the canvas. Look at those mountains – they’re not just purple, they're sliced up into planes of color. I feel like each brushstroke is a decision, a little "yes" or "no" that builds up the whole scene. And then, you have the people with the banner—are they celebrating or praying, or both? Roerich reminds us that artists are always building on what came before, using their own experiences to add to the conversation. This painting doesn't give you all the answers, it invites you to bring your own questions.