Dzong at evening 1924

Nicholas Roerich painted this dreamscape of interlocking forms in shades of indigo, lavender and white. Roerich seems to suggest that the image is built up in layers. You can see this in the way the blue mountains overlap, creating a sense of depth and distance. The paint application is quite flat, but with visible brushstrokes, adding to the tactile quality of the painting. The surface is chalky and dry, and the contrast between the dark blues and the pale whites creates a kind of vibration, as if the landscape is shimmering in the fading light. The largest mountain on the right, with a monastery perched on top, looks impenetrable. It is built from sharply defined blocks of blue and is surrounded by glowing, almost luminous white. This creates a contrast between the solidity of the built structures and the ethereal quality of the surrounding space. It puts me in mind of Hilma af Klint, another mystic who sought to capture spiritual truths through simplification and abstraction. With both, the subject matter lends itself to endless interpretations.