Himalayas 1937

Nicholas Roerich painted these Himalayas with what looks like tempera or gouache, a kind of opaque watercolor. The mark-making is so simple, yet it builds to something monumental. I'm struck by how the violet shadows define the peaks, and the salmon sky gives the whole scene this otherworldly glow. You know, painting mountains is tricky. It's so easy to get bogged down in details, but Roerich just goes for the essence, the feeling of being dwarfed by these giant forms. Look at the way he handles the snow – just a few confident strokes, and you can feel the chill. I particularly love the small passage on the right, where warm brown rock emerges from the snow, a sharp contrast to the blues and purples that give the whole image a sense of depth. It reminds me of Marsden Hartley’s landscapes, where the inner world is projected onto the natural one. Painting is always a conversation, and Roerich's Himalayas continue to speak to us about seeing and feeling the sublime.