Smolensk. Tower. 1903

Nicholas Roerich’s ‘Smolensk. Tower.’ emerges as if from a dream, painted with a subdued palette of earth tones and sky blues. I imagine Roerich layering the paint, coaxing the tower and landscape into being through soft, deliberate strokes. Look at the way the tower rises—it feels solid, but the brushwork dissolves its edges, giving it an ethereal quality. What was Roerich thinking as he built this tower with paint? Perhaps about the weight of history or the passage of time? The green hill at the tower's base is rendered with thick paint, each stroke a small, distinct mark, full of presence. These marks communicate a sense of grounding, contrasting with the dreamy sky. Roerich’s paintings often evoke a spiritual dimension, reminiscent of Symbolist painters. Like them, he sought to capture something beyond the visible world. The image evokes feelings and meanings that go beyond the purely representational. Painting is a process that opens up possibilities.