Lahaul 1932

Nicholas Roerich made this painting called Lahaul, and it's just mountains and sky, very simply and boldly laid out. What I notice first is the way the paint is smoothed out, but not in a way that hides the brushstrokes; you can almost feel the drag of the brush, especially in the darker mountain on the left. It’s like he's inviting you to feel the physicality of the paint, the weight of the pigment. The colors, too, feel almost elemental – earth reds and blues against a bright turquoise sky. It's like he's trying to find a way to communicate the essence of this place. Look at the way the light catches the peaks in the distance. Roerich uses these subtle gradations of color to suggest depth, to pull you into the vastness of the landscape. It reminds me a little of Marsden Hartley's landscapes, where the geometry of nature is broken down into simple, powerful forms. Painting mountains like this becomes a way of understanding and interpreting the world. It's about more than just what you see; it’s about what you feel.