Polovets and girls 1943

This painting by Nicholas Roerich uses tempera to capture a scene of figures against a sunset backdrop of yellow and orange that bleeds into a violet horizon. I can imagine Roerich layering each stroke, building up the colors and forms, shifting between representation and abstraction to create the world within the painting. Look at the way he uses line to define the figures' robes and the details of their faces—almost like a delicate drawing on top of the color. It makes me wonder what he was thinking about when he painted this? What stories or histories were alive in his imagination as he worked? The texture of the tempera gives the painting a matte surface, like pigment suspended in time. A gesture like that little flag flapping on the pole, so simply rendered, speaks volumes about Roerich's intention and vision. It reminds me of the early modernists playing with similar themes, each painter contributing to a larger conversation about what painting can be, and do. It's all connected, you know, like one big, ongoing art party.