Beyond the seas there are the great lands (Daughter of viking) 1915

Nicholas Roerich made this painting, Beyond the seas there are the great lands (Daughter of viking), in what looks like oil paint. The way the colors are laid down feels considered, but also immediate. Like a memory made visible, in strokes of ochre and blue. The painting's surface has a tactile quality. The paint application varies, sometimes thin and translucent, other times built up to create texture. The artist's hand feels really present. There's a freedom and looseness, especially in the way the land meets the sea, with these hazy blues and greens blurring. Look at how he renders the sky, those horizontal streaks of yellow and pink that create a sense of expanse and openness, it really pulls you in. Roerich reminds me of Hilma af Klint, especially in the way they both try to make the invisible visible, or to explore the boundary between representation and abstraction. It’s like they are both tapping into something deeper, something ancient and universal. It really suggests art's capacity to ask questions rather than provide answers.