Himalayas. Chain of Kanchenjunga. 1936

Nicholas Roerich made this small painting, Himalayas, Chain of Kanchenjunga, with tempera, and it feels like he’s built up the mountains, one layer at a time. The painting has a really interesting surface; you can see the texture of the brushstrokes, but also the way the paint has dried. It’s kind of chalky, like fresco, which gives it a very earthy, grounded feeling. I'm really drawn to how he’s handled the light and shadow on the peaks. There's this one spot where the blue of the sky meets the white of the snow, and he’s created this soft, blurry edge that makes the mountains feel both solid and ethereal at the same time. Roerich's work reminds me a little of Marsden Hartley's landscapes, particularly in the way they both use simplified forms and bold colors to evoke a sense of monumentality and spiritual power. Ultimately, this painting is a testament to the power of art to capture the sublime beauty of the natural world.