Troki. Sketch of Troki Monastery 1903

Nicholas Roerich made this oil on canvas work, “Troki. Sketch of Troki Monastery,” sometime in his career, and what strikes me first is the way he's not afraid to let the making show. It’s all about the paint, you know? Looking closely, you can almost feel the texture of the canvas through the thin layers, and the thicker impasto areas where he really laid it on, especially in those darker foreground elements. I love how the brushstrokes aren't trying to hide, they’re part of the story. The arches in the background are built up with these short, almost staccato marks. They build up to this lovely rough surface that feels really solid. Roerich’s painting reminds me a little of Emil Nolde, that same interest in directness and a kind of rough and ready expression. For me, art is always a conversation across time, an ongoing process. Roerich reminds us to embrace the sketch, the loose end, the multiple possibilities inherent in the act of painting.