Siver clouds over the mountains 1941

Nicholas Roerich made this dreamlike painting, "Silver Clouds Over the Mountains" with what looks like tempera or gouache, giving it a really matte, almost chalky feel. I love the way the blues and grays kind of bleed into each other. Look at the foreground; you can see how the brushstrokes create these horizontal bands, like layers of atmosphere or maybe even geological strata. It's so simple, yet it gives you this incredible sense of depth and space. Then there's that mountain peak in the background, shrouded in mist. It's like a mirage, a fleeting glimpse of something majestic and unknowable. Roerich was really into mysticism and the spiritual dimensions of landscape, so this piece feels like a meditation, or a prayer. You could say he’s a bit like a slightly less psychedelic Hilma af Klint. Ultimately, it's up to you to find your own meaning in it.