Trans-Himalayas near Saga 1927

Nicholas Roerich painted these 'Trans-Himalayas near Saga' sometime in his career. He evokes the scene with such simplicity. It’s mostly blues and whites, soft and hazy, like seeing the world through a gentle fog. Roerich’s paint handling is interesting here, the layers are very thin, almost transparent, which gives the work a kind of ethereal quality. Look closely at the mountain in the foreground. Notice how the blues get deeper towards the bottom, creating a sense of depth and grounding, but then they fade out again towards the top of the mountain, allowing it to merge seamlessly with the sky. It’s a really lovely effect. This reminds me a little bit of some of the early abstract landscapes by Hilma af Klint, not so much in terms of style, but in the sense of trying to capture something beyond the visible world. Both artists were interested in spiritualism, which probably explains the soft focus. For Roerich it’s all about capturing the feeling of being in the Himalayas, it's less about showing you exactly what they look like.