Kuluta. Mountains before the sunset. 1936

Curator: Oh, there’s a brooding magnificence to this. All shadow and subtle light... Editor: That's certainly one way to put it. What we’re looking at is Nicholas Roerich's "Kuluta. Mountains before the sunset," painted in 1936. The medium used was oil-paint. Curator: You know, the light seems trapped. Almost as if the mountains are holding onto the last glimmer of day for dear life. It makes you think about the secrets those peaks must hold, all those silent stories… Editor: Roerich was heavily involved in the Theosophical Society, and many believe that he was trying to express not just landscapes, but also his perception of sacred spaces, the meeting place between the terrestrial and cosmic. Given his esoteric interests, I believe that is what the painting represents.. Curator: Hmm. It feels more… viscerally human to me. A sense of holding onto hope even as darkness encroaches. Editor: Given the time this was painted, on the eve of World War II, is it at all possible it symbolizes humanity during times of war? A fight for the hope that, someday, mountains will be viewed differently...Not necessarily as borders between lands that we can conquer, but simply as beautiful landscapes? Curator: Perhaps you’re right, it could be interpreted through that sociopolitical lens...The layering of colors, the weight of the mountains... It feels both intimate and epic at the same time. Roerich clearly had something profound to say, and his timing could perhaps give more context to it. Editor: It certainly gives you food for thought when it comes to examining not just his work, but how that particular time might have changed and influenced it, regardless of any Theosophical beliefs. Curator: It does indeed, perhaps it's a warning... to stay aware, that one day you are at peace admiring a gorgeous landscape, the next, there's bombs exploding. Roerich makes you reflect. Editor: Absolutely. It highlights the intrinsic relationship that the socio-political, spiritual, and natural environments have. An absolutely fantastic, thought provoking painting.