Altai landscape

A vast bank of grey storm clouds dominates the upper half of the sheet, trailing visible curtains of rain over a distant mountain range streaked with snow. Below, a scattering of low houses and sheds forms a small village along the horizon, fronted by flooded meadows and pools of standing water that mirror the sky.

Chalky pastel strokes build the clouds in soft greys and mauves against patches of clear blue, while the mountains are rendered in cool violet-blue tones fading toward the horizon. Warm ochre and green mark the grassy foreground, and the broad, granular texture of the pastel gives the whole scene a heavy, weather-charged atmosphere.