Kovno. Gothic façade. 1903

Nicholas Roerich made this drawing, 'Kovno. Gothic façade,' in 1903. The first thing that strikes me is the artist's hand; the marks are so assured! There’s a sense of the artist trying to understand the building by drawing it. The lines feel exploratory, like Roerich is working out how the gothic façade is structured, brick by brick. It reminds me of some of Piranesi’s architectural studies, with their obsessive attention to detail. Look closely at the top of the building. See how the lines aren't perfectly straight? That’s what makes it sing! These slight wobbles give the facade a human quality, a vulnerability even. It’s like Roerich is saying, “I see you, old building, with all your imperfections.” And in that seeing, he invites us to really look, too. Roerich was a theosophist and spiritual seeker as well as an artist, and his interest in architectural forms reflects this. Like Hilma af Klint, he sought to find the connections between art and spirituality, so in his rendering of the building, it feels like he is looking for the deeper structure beneath the facade, both literal and metaphorical.