Himalayas 1934

Here we see Nicholas Roerich’s “Himalayas,” a painting where the mountains are rendered with this amazing, almost otherworldly palette. It’s not just about representation, it’s about feeling. It makes you wonder if painting, like life, is just a process of layering, adjusting, and responding. The texture here is really interesting; it’s pretty smooth, not a lot of thick impasto, but the colors! That lavender shadow on the central peak, up against the icy white, creates a vibration that’s almost musical. And the way he defines the planes of the mountains with these bold, clean strokes—it’s so direct. It reminds me of early Diebenkorn, that same sense of simplification and clarity. The way Roerich uses color to convey not just form, but also mood—it’s like he’s painting the feeling of altitude, the thinness of the air, the silence. Art doesn't have to be one thing. It can be a little bit of everything, can't it?