Tent of Ivan the Terrible 1909

Nicholas Roerich painted 'Tent of Ivan the Terrible' with what looks like tempera, so lots of pigment and maybe egg. Look at the way he goes about mark making, there is a real sense of pattern and repetition, but it is very much handmade. The colours give it this feeling of warmth and otherworldliness. It is decorative but not in a boring way, the paint is laid down in blocks but there's still plenty of visual interest and texture. Check out those little dots and circles! They build up to create a dense, decorative surface. All these details draw you in. The tension between the interior space with the icons on the left, and the exterior, landscape view beyond the tent opening, is really powerful. Reminds me of Vuillard and Bonnard in the way that it merges the domestic and decorative with something else beyond. It is these juxtapositions that keep you guessing.