The great sacrifice 1912

Nicholas Roerich made "The Great Sacrifice," an artwork made with—well, I can only guess—watercolor or gouache, something very fluid. Look at how the color just seems to hover on the surface! It's like he’s barely touched the paper, letting the pigment do its thing. The pale yellows and blues mix like a dream, suggesting depth without really defining it. The figures are just these simple shapes, hinting at a story or a ritual. Check out that mark hovering near the top of the painting, suggesting a burst of light or the presence of something divine. It reminds me a bit of Hilma af Klint, another artist who was interested in the spiritual. Both artists had this way of using abstract forms to convey something beyond the visible world. The painting resists easy answers; it’s more about feeling and intuition, which, for me, is what art is all about.