Morning 1931

Nicholas Roerich painted this landscape, titled ‘Morning’, with what looks like tempera or egg tempera. I say this because of the kind of chalky, matte quality of the colour. There’s a real sense of atmosphere in this piece, isn’t there? Look at how Roerich suggests sunlight breaking through the sky. The paint is thin, almost transparent, and applied in delicate strokes that create a luminous effect. The physicality of the medium is downplayed. You can barely see any brushstrokes, which lends the work an ethereal quality. My eye keeps going back to the mountain range. It’s rendered in a deep, solid blue that provides a grounding contrast to the lightness of the sky. The peaks are simplified, almost geometric. It makes me think of Agnes Martin, how she achieved such sublime effects from minimal means. This piece shows how art can be about conveying feeling and mood, not just representation.