Sissu Monastery 1932

Nicholas Roerich made this small painting of Sissu Monastery with thin layers of tempera. I can almost see him composing it, blocking out the basic shapes of the monastery and mountain, and filling in the sky. I feel for the artist looking at this faraway place in the Himalayas! I know that feeling of wanting to record and capture the place, to take the mountain home with you in some way. But painting mountains – they’re so big! And how do you capture that sense of depth and scale? He’s created a world of atmosphere through colour, choosing a high-keyed palette of yellow, orange, and blues. The mountain almost floats against the sky. The painting feels otherworldly and timeless, like a dream. Roerich, like many other artists, was inspired by what had come before. You can see how he relates to artists like Lawren Harris. We look at paintings and learn from each other, across time and place.