Old king 1910

Nicholas Roerich made this painting, Old King, using tempera, a fast-drying medium, with a pastel-like palette. It’s dreamy, fairytale-esque, and a little bit flat, like early Byzantine painting, but with Roerich’s own flavour. Look at the surface of the king’s robes and how Roerich makes these scratchy and energetic marks, like he's using a dry brush with very little paint. This gives the surface a gritty, porous quality. Then compare this texture to that of the spires. The surface is built from millions of tiny marks and dabs of paint. The overall effect of this is one of a vibrant, energized surface; everything is alive. Roerich reminds me of Marsden Hartley in his love of folk art and spiritual themes. Like Hartley, Roerich wasn’t interested in Renaissance perspective or realistic representation, but in the power of simple forms and colours to convey deep emotion. Art is a conversation, and it never stands still, even when it looks like it does!