Sharugen Monastery 1932

Nicholas Roerich made "Sharugen Monastery" with paint, although I can't tell exactly when. It's interesting, isn’t it, how he’s approached the subject? The colors feel so simplified and flattened, like he's using blocks of hue to build this landscape. The painting has this really fascinating tension between flatness and depth, it almost feels like stage scenery. Look at that purple mountain, how it dominates the background, yet feels like a backdrop more than a solid form. The texture seems pretty smooth, which makes the colours even more impactful. There’s a rock in the foreground that caught my eye. It’s got a symbol on it, maybe Tibetan? It adds this layer of mystery. I'm curious how that relates to the whole piece. Roerich’s work reminds me a bit of Marsden Hartley, with that same simplified, almost stylized approach to landscape. Art is just a huge conversation, isn't it? Each artist is always responding to what came before and creating their own unique vision.