The great sacrifice 1910

Nicholas Roerich made this ethereal painting with, I imagine, thin layers of paint and a delicate touch. I can picture him, brush in hand, building up these glowing forms from the night. The clouds hover, almost alive, looking down on the landscape. I wonder if Roerich saw faces in the clouds, too? Look at those marks, the way they curl and twist – they remind me of wind, but also of thoughts, prayers maybe. There's a quiet energy here. He's using color in such a subtle way. It's like he’s capturing a dream, or a memory of a place, that shimmers just out of reach. Painters are always looking to each other, learning from the past, and pushing forward. Roerich’s choice of luminous tones reminds me of Munch’s ‘The Scream’, in that both artists use color to convey the sublime, ineffable aspects of human experience. That’s the power of painting, right? To suggest what can’t be said.