Himalayas 1938

Nicholas Roerich made Himalayas with paint, though I don't know exactly when. What strikes me first are these broad, flat planes of color, ice blue, dove grey, and stark white. It’s like Roerich is carving out the mountains and sky with a knife. The effect is cool and distant, but also monumental, like staring at a landscape as old as time. You can really see the hand of the artist in the way the paint is applied; thin washes layered over one another, which creates a sense of depth and atmosphere. Look at the jagged edges of the mountains, how the white paint is feathered out into the blue sky. It's not about precision, but about capturing the essence of these peaks. The blue here is so evocative of Yves Klein, another artist obsessed with big ideas, and one who understood the poetry of color. Ultimately, this painting is a reminder that art doesn't need to be complicated to be powerful. It's about finding beauty in simplicity, and about using color and form to create a sense of wonder.