Intimation II

The present work may depict Nicholas Roerich, Agnes Pelton's friend and fellow artist. Related to her Intimation of 1933 (Private collection), Intimation II reflects Pelton's fascination with Agni Yoga—a sect promoted by Roerich—from which which she garnered significant artistic inspiration. "The turbaned heads, facial hair, [and] nondescript clothing" of the Intimation works "can lead the viewer to believe that if Pelton had indeed made a portrait of Roerich, she was honoring him through subtle associations with the 'ascended masters' of Theosophy and Agni Yoga." (S.L. Aberth, "Women, Modern Art and the Esoteric: Agnes Pelton in Context," in Agnes Pelton: Desert Transcendentalist, exhibition catalogue, Phoenix, Arizona, 2019, p. 187) These works possessed great personal significance for the artist, who did not offer them for sale in her lifetime. Understood as the human personifications of Pelton's spiritual abstractions, works such as the present provide valuable insights into Pelton's personal beliefs.