Mountains in Chinese painting are sacred because the Chinese have held that the cosmic forces, the energy, harmony, and ceaseless renewal of the universe, are in some way made manifest in them. Robert Armstrong’s two paintings ‘Middle Distance’ and ‘Lightsome Distance’ further develop his interest in concepts of the ‘three distances’ in landscape painting where the air and mist become the cosmic breath, or cloud-breath, which is a visible manifestation of the essence of life. The paintings with their luminous horizons represent a spirit of lightness and renewal.