Himalayas. Sunny contour of the mountains. 1939

Nicholas Roerich painted these mountains, probably on canvas, using tempera, and look at how he moves from dark to light. He's building up these forms, creating depth with color, not with traditional perspective. You can almost feel him layering the paint, each stroke deliberate, like a meditation. There's this beautiful tension between the flatness of the paint and the illusion of space. The colors! So intense and yet so harmonious, all those blues and greens creating this otherworldly atmosphere. And the way he defines the edges of the mountains with that sunny contour, it’s like he's capturing the essence of light itself. It reminds me of Hilma af Klint, another artist who was exploring spiritual themes through abstract forms, even if Roerich is rooted in a more figurative landscape. Ultimately it’s not about perfect representation, it’s about feeling the immensity and the sublime beauty of nature, and maybe a little bit of that spiritual vibe.