View of Everest from Tibet 1937

Nicholas Roerich painted this view of Everest from Tibet with, what looks like, tempera paint in a very simplified, almost theatrical style. The layering of blue tones to create depth is fascinating; it's as if he's built a stage set. There's a kind of deliberate naivety to it. Take the clouds, for instance. They're these big, puffy forms, like cotton balls stuck onto the canvas. And yet, they work! They create this amazing sense of scale and distance. Look at the foreground, that little hill with the rocks. Each rock is outlined with a simple, dark line. Roerich had this spiritual, almost mystical approach to landscape. It reminds me a bit of Marsden Hartley, who also painted landscapes with this bold, simplified style, trying to capture something beyond the surface. It's a reminder that art isn't just about representation. It's about feeling, about conveying an experience, a mood, a state of mind.