Boyarynia and children 1914

Nicholas Roerich made this tempera on cardboard, Boyarynia and children, probably in the early 1920s. It is amazing to see how the colours are put down, not in a way to create realistic forms, but as an end in themselves. It is the process of artmaking that becomes the subject matter here. The work has a muted, almost dreamy quality. The texture is smooth, and the colours are applied in thin, transparent layers. If you look at the lower registers of the dresses you see the layering of colour and pattern is particularly intricate. Each mark is deliberate, contributing to a sense of decorative richness and detail. Roerich was fascinated by the spiritual and symbolic potential of art, influenced by the Symbolist movement, you can see this in the work of artists like Gustav Klimt. Like Klimt, Roerich embraces ornamentation and surface pattern over naturalistic representation, suggesting that art can offer a window into other realms of experience. Art is an ongoing conversation, embracing the ambiguity and multiple interpretations.