Finnish landscape. Tulolansaari island. 1918

Nicholas Roerich made this landscape painting of the island of Tulolansaari, in Finland, sometime in the early to mid-twentieth century. Look at those cool blues and greys, that pale yellow peeking through! I imagine Roerich out there with his paints, trying to capture the quiet majesty of this Nordic place. I can almost feel the cold, crisp air and hear the faint sound of water meeting land. I wonder, what was Roerich thinking as he layered those strokes? What did he feel standing in this spot, painting this scene? You see how the paint thins and thickens? It gives the hills a breath, a pulse. I appreciate how Roerich isn't afraid to let the painting be a little mysterious, a little unresolved. It reminds me of Cezanne, in that way, who was always trying to nail down what he saw, but always knew that vision could never be fixed. Painters are always in conversation with each other, you know? It’s like a big, ongoing game of telephone across time. And here we are, tuning in.