Tibet. Monastery Gelug-pa. 1936

"Tibet. Monastery Gelug-pa" by Nicholas Roerich— the shapes are simple, created with pastels in shades of orange, lilac and ultramarine. I can imagine Roerich standing out in the landscape making this work. Maybe he sketched first and then laid down these beautiful colors, one next to the other. Look how the mountain peaks get bluer as they recede into the distance, it's a way of creating a feeling of deep space. Those simplified architectural forms almost feel like notations. Painting monasteries in this way feels like a kind of translation of the monumental into something intimate and almost domestic. I see a connection with other artists like Milton Avery who used color to create feeling. Artists are always learning from one another, across time and place. Painting is a conversation that never ends, a constant process of call and response that keeps evolving.