Study of scene design for "Peer Gynt" 1912

Nicholas Roerich made this stage design study for "Peer Gynt" using charcoal and gold paint, or maybe gold leaf. The charcoal has a lovely grainy texture, and it's been applied in layers, with lots of cross-hatching to build up a feeling of depth. You can almost feel the roughness of those rocks! Then there's this shimmery gold, used almost sparingly, like a wink. It peeks out from behind the hills, suggesting maybe a sunset or some kind of otherworldly glow. The thing that grabs me is how Roerich uses these simple materials to create such a mystical landscape. Look at the way he's defined the rocks in the foreground, with the bold lines of the charcoal, they almost look like faces. It reminds me a bit of Marsden Hartley's landscapes – that same kind of simplified, monumental quality. There's something really powerful about his ability to evoke such a sense of place with so few elements. It leaves you space to dream.