The court of Prince Vladimir Galitsky (Study of scene design for "Prince Igor") 1914

Nicholas Roerich made this set design for "Prince Igor" with tempera and gouache, probably sketching and repainting it many times. The stage emerges slowly, shifting through trial, error, and intuition. I really sympathize with Roerich here. I imagine he might have been thinking about how to make color and form communicate feeling. Like, how can I evoke a court, its power and intrigue, with just a few strokes of paint? The paint is applied thinly, almost like watercolor, allowing the colors to blend and create a sense of depth. Look at how he uses color to create a sense of drama and emotion. That little red gesture there, like a flame, communicates so much. Roerich has a lot in common with other painters who embraced ambiguity, allowing for multiple interpretations. These paintings are not fixed. Instead they go on living, gathering new interpretations.