Monhegan (study) 1922

Nicholas Roerich made this landscape drawing, Monhegan (study), with graphite on paper. Look at the range of marks here, from the soft, hazy mountains in the background, to the scribbled textures of the foreground. See how Roerich uses different pressures to create depth, suggesting the density of the forest and the open sky above. The paper itself is like a stage for these dancing lines, each mark building on the last in a kind of visual rhythm. The lone tree on the right, with its jagged branches reaching out, is particularly evocative. It reminds me of the drawings of Gustav Klimt, with a similar emphasis on the expressive potential of line. This isn't just a picture of a landscape; it's a record of a process, a conversation between the artist and the world. It's about the act of seeing, feeling, and responding to the world.