Towns 1914

Nicholas Roerich’s painting, “Towns”, shows us a cityscape constructed with oil on canvas. Here, traditional artistic materials serve a dreamlike vision. The texture of the canvas is visible beneath the layers of paint, giving the architectural forms a tactile presence, as though they were built rather than simply depicted. You can see Roerich’s engagement with both the history of painting and the cultural significance of the depicted towns through his blending of fine art with craft aesthetics, like the stylized motifs reminiscent of traditional textile patterns adorning the structures. These could be read as celebrating the craftsmanship of everyday life. This work invites us to consider not just the aesthetic qualities of the piece, but also the means by which it was brought into being. Roerich offers a vision of urban space that blurs the line between the functional and the fantastical, the artistic and the artisanal.