Nanda Devi 1941

Nicholas Roerich made this painting of Nanda Devi with what looks like thin layers of paint, building up these monumental, glowing mountains. Can you imagine him out there, maybe a little cold, squinting, trying to capture the light and the immensity of these forms? Look how the peaks catch the light; the colors shift from cool blues and purples in the shadows to warmer whites and yellows where the sun hits. I bet he was thinking about how to make these mountains feel both solid and ethereal, like they're almost glowing from within. It’s like he’s not just painting a mountain, but also the feeling of being in the presence of something really powerful and majestic. Painters like Roerich are always in conversation with each other, across time, you know? Each one learning and riffing off what came before, trying to find their own way to express something about the world. And each brushstroke is a little thought, a little feeling, a little experiment in trying to capture something that’s hard to put into words.