China's heroics 1937

Nicholas Roerich painted "China's Heroics" with oil on canvas; I love the way he builds the image with blocks of color, not blended at all. It's like he's thinking in shapes and light, a real process-oriented approach. There's this physicality to the paint, it’s not trying to trick you into seeing something else. It's just itself, thick and present. I'm drawn to the way he renders the mountains, they're almost cartoonish, but also monumental. That curving line of the wall against the peaks is amazing! It’s such a simple gesture, but it totally defines the space and feel of the piece, the weight of history bearing down on that landscape. Roerich reminds me a little bit of Marsden Hartley, or maybe Milton Avery - that American Modernist vibe, flattening everything out, finding the poetry in simple forms. It’s like they're all having a conversation about how to see the world in a new way, one brushstroke at a time.