Downpour 1943

Nicholas Roerich made this work, Downpour, with tempera on board. The wispy layers, laid delicately one on top of the other, are crucial to the image. Tempera is an ancient medium; Roerich would have mixed his own paint from pigment, water, and egg yolk. And that’s key, because the nature of the medium gives the painting its distinctive look. Tempera dries very quickly, making it difficult to blend colors smoothly. It also creates a matte surface, which can give colors a slightly muted quality. Look at the sky and the rain. Tempera is an unforgiving medium. It is difficult to rework, so each stroke requires intention. The build-up of layers creates subtle textures. What we have, then, is a meeting of a very physical process, tempera painting, with a natural phenomenon, a rain shower, in which a whole lot of water is falling from the sky. Looking at how this piece was made gives us so much more than just the image, it enables an understanding of both process and place.