And we are opening the gates 1922

Nicholas Roerich painted this vision of gates opening onto rolling hills, sometime in the first half of the twentieth century, using oils on canvas. The painting has this amazing quality of feeling very solid and dreamlike at the same time. The colors are muted, earthy – the gateway is built from this pinky-red stone – but that sky! It's like an invitation, a literal opening to another world, and Roerich's brushwork is loose, with this real sense of process. It’s like he’s not trying to hide the painting, you know? Take a look at the way he's rendered the figure on the right, the thin washes of color, and the way the lines are incised into the paint to create the details of the clothing. It's like he's scratching into the surface, making the painting feel like something ancient and timeless. There’s something so immediate and raw about that, and it reminds me of Marsden Hartley. He was also someone who managed to convey something profoundly personal, like Roerich, but through very simple means. It's like they’re both part of this bigger conversation about how we see, how we feel, and how we can turn that into art.