Vignette for book "N. K. Roerich" 1918

This is a vignette for a book, made by Nicholas Roerich, but we don't know when or with what! It looks like a print, maybe a woodcut or linocut. The interesting thing about printmaking is how the artist approaches the surface. Here, Roerich is really interested in texture, and how the image emerges through touch. Look at the columns in the foreground. They are made up of these horizontal lines and dots, which the eye blends together, so it's a push-pull between abstraction and representation. Now, look at the people. In the front, they are sort of bunched together in a group, while the two figures at the back are more separated. The group in the front are more gestural, almost melting into the ground, while the two at the back are more defined, more solid. It makes you wonder about what is going on here, who these people are, and what they are doing. Roerich reminds me a bit of Emil Nolde, who was also interested in spiritual matters, and in how a rough-hewn mark can convey a kind of intensity and emotion.