Shadow of the Teacher 1932

Nicholas Roerich painted Shadow of the Teacher with oil on canvas, and like all great paintings, it’s a record of its own making. You can see it in the brushstrokes, those vertical marks dragging downward and then interrupted by smaller marks. There's a materiality to this landscape, not just in how he depicts the mountains, but in the actual stuff of the painting itself. It's got this tactile quality; you can almost feel the rough texture of the canvas. The colors! A muted, somber palette, almost monochromatic, yet with these jolts of red and yellow that give it a little jolt. There’s this little dance between accident and control. Looking at this piece, I’m reminded of Marsden Hartley and his stark, powerful landscapes. Both artists share this interest in conveying the monumental aspect of nature. With art, it’s never really about closure, it’s an open-ended dialogue.