Traces 1917

Nicholas Roerich painted "Traces" with what looks like tempera or gouache, probably sometime in the early to mid-20th century. Look how Roerich uses these cool blues and greens to map out the form of this huge mountain range. It's all about layering and simplifying – shapes are built with flat planes of colour, not blended or fussed over. This gives the scene a powerful, almost graphic quality. The way Roerich applies the paint is also pretty interesting. There is an area near the bottom of the frame which depicts what appears to be a snow drift, but it is also just a beautifully rendered collection of strokes that just build up an area of dense texture. It's like he's not trying to hide the process, but instead is celebrating the physicality of the medium. This piece reminds me a bit of some of Marsden Hartley's landscapes, especially in the way he flattens space and emphasizes the monumentality of nature. But in the end, Roerich's work stands alone, inviting us to contemplate the mysteries of the natural world and our place within it.