Building the ships 1903

Nicholas Roerich’s ‘Building the Ships,’ now in the State Museum of Oriental Art in Moscow, looks to me like it was made with oil on canvas. The colors are muted—browns and ochres dominate—and the forms are built up with quick, choppy brushstrokes. I imagine Roerich standing before the canvas, his mind already sailing with visions of Viking longboats and ancient craftsmanship. He’s probably thinking about all the other painters of ships, Turner and Courbet come to mind. Look at how he renders the hull of the ship, almost like a woven basket, each stroke alive with texture. It’s like Roerich is not just painting a ship, but the very idea of shipbuilding, the collective effort, the weight of history. It makes me want to pick up a brush and join the conversation, adding my own voice to this timeless, painterly discourse. Each gesture feels like a thought, an emotion, a memory passed down from one artist to another.