Madonna Laboris 1931

Nicholas Roerich made this painting, Madonna Laboris, with what looks like tempera. The blues! It’s all blues. The way the colors are laid down makes me think about process, about the meditative act of painting. See how the blues range from soft, powdery shades to deeper, almost indigo hues? The texture feels almost like velvet, doesn't it? But there's something else there too, something about labor, not just physical, but like… the labor of seeing, of being. That thin white line, stretching from the figure down to the craggy rocks below feels key. It’s as if all the weight of being is concentrated in that single strand, and it makes me think about Agnes Martin and her quiet grids, or maybe even Hilma af Klint and her spiritual geometry. Art is always a conversation, a back and forth across time and space. And ultimately, it’s up to each of us to find our own way into the mystery.