Vignette for book "N. K. Roerich" 1918

This vignette for a book on Nicholas Roerich, probably made with ink, shows us that art-making is about the dialogue between control and chaos. Look at how Roerich uses a limited palette – just black and white – to create a whole world of texture and depth. See the hatched lines at the top corner? It's like a storm is brewing, but then your eye travels down to these soft, pillowy clouds and horizontal lines, and you feel a sense of calm. Then the bottom section is like thick grass, all these vertical lines. It's a real push and pull, a dynamic tension. That bottom section, those vertical lines, I find them so arresting, like the land is breathing. It’s a contrast between order and disorder, and I think that's what makes it so captivating. There's something about Roerich’s landscapes that makes me think of Marsden Hartley, another painter who sought out the spiritual in nature. And like Hartley, Roerich reminds us that art isn't about answers, it's about the questions we ask.