Study of mountains 1930

Nicholas Roerich made this study of mountains using thin paint in shades of blue and grey. It’s like he’s captured a moment in time, not just a place. The paint is so thin it almost feels like watercolour, each layer gently blending into the next, creating a misty atmosphere. Notice how the peaks fade into the background, one barely distinguishable from another. Then there’s that sky, a speckled blue like it's been applied with a sponge, which is what I do sometimes to get a mottled effect. It makes me think of other artists who have painted mountains like Lawren Harris, though Harris is more geometric, more about form, while Roerich is more about feeling, about the sheer vastness and silence of the mountains. In art, as in life, we borrow from each other, riffing on the themes and ideas of those who came before us. It's less about fixed meanings than it is a conversation.