Watchtowers of America by Nicholas Roerich

 

Now, on the eve of my departure for a trip to the Orient, I feel I must take the opportunity to tell about my impressions of America and American art. I feel that this privilege is mine because some twenty-three years ago I already had faith in the art of America and assisted in showing an American art exhibition for the first time in Russia. And now I am fully justified in my optimism.

First, I must speak of my opinion of America in general.

I often heard America spoken of as purely materialistic. But every man finds what he most searches for. Every man measures the world from his mental point of view. Life is complicated. We are often blind and deaf to the real miracles of life surrounding us. What is reality? What is fantasy? The people, in their mental blindness, often confuse these conceptions. Like a polished diamond, life reflects light in various ways. Very often where we see the shimmer of red materialistic rays, close to it appears the blue and violet. It is a mistake to assume that the predominant color of a diamond is green or red. If I look at America from the red spot of materialistic Wall Street, America naturally is seemingly only materialistic. But my interest has been in the blue and violet rays of your national life. I found them in abundance and they thrilled me. If you consider closely American life, which has nothing in common with the stock exchange or the street, you will be astonished at the revelations. One finds nowhere, for instance, as many creeds and churches next to each other. This is a clear proof of spirituality. When you attend meetings of any denomination you will find crowded halls. The people do not go there for materialistic reasons. They go there for the call of the soul. People are attracted to the teachings of Blavatsky, Vivekananda, Tagore and other great ones. This country gave birth to Emerson and Walt Whitman; they grew up here and found an echo here. These phenomena are naturally hidden from the masses that rush along Broadway and clamor for the mechanical inventions of life. The mechanical side, however, has nothing to do with the spiritual side that thrives in the shadow of elevators and steam shovels.

Here Claude Bragdon speaks to you about the fourth dimension and about the color organ. Dr.Debey thrills you with the deep science of the horoscope. Dr. Hille shall show you a whole universe in one-thousandth of a drop of liquid gold. You will hear Vedanta and Bahai teachers. You will hear men openly discussing here the union of religions and nations, of moon people and Atlantis. Here you will find people interested in astrology and cosmic consciousness. This is all that same America, which is considered mad for money. The country is great and young,—great and young are its aspirations.

Besides all that we see, we cannot forget the great inventors that are at the same time great poets. Edison, the inventor, is at the same time Edison, the poet; Carnegie, the great manufacturer, was also Carnegie, the great poet; it requires a visionary mind to accomplish what those men have accomplished.

Pointing out the spiritual issues of American life, I cannot ignore its cosmic nature. In America a new nation is being composed by means of a quick experiment of mixing the elements of the world. In our very presence is being formed a new social product, a new national soul which already has the qualities of its inherent ethnic importance. Of all the world’s recent projects, this is the most marvelous experiment. Its reality produces realistic ideas of the unions of religions and other universal achievements by means of a future spiritual culture. We know that spiritual culture will ultimately conquer the mechanical civilization. We know that the spirit of man leads evolution and is gaining impetus with every day.

In Russia (and union between America and a future Russia is imminent) exists a beautiful legend of a Sunken City, which will emerge again when the proper time has arrived. Who knows, perhaps, the tops of the towers of that Sunken City are rising and becoming visible? Intensive life, with spiritual roots, deep-buried and healthy, although not always apparent, must produce a strong and varied art. One of the strongest impressions, when I first came here in 1920, was made upon me by such men as Rockwell Kent, George Bellows, Ryder, John Sargent, Davies, Maurice Stern, Ufer, R. Chanler Sloane, Manship, Lachaise, Speicker, Melchers, Prendergast, Freseke, Kroll, and Sterner. Among the younger men I found Faggi, Davey, Johnson, Weisenborn, Hoeckner, Shiva. In the theatrical field, Jones, Urban and Geddes were brought to my attention. All these gave me my first impression of the full variety of the American groups. Several artistic groups are national in feeling, but if this feeling has, in the background, an international viewpoint, they are justified, because America has so many treasures that can be expressed in a truly inspired national feeling.

If you take the poesy of the skyscraper; if you regard the romanticism of the national parks or the profound tragedy and beauty of the Indian pueblos; or again, the somber note of the Spanish relics here, you have so many beautiful things to express that you can understand why the modern American feeling is against repeating the formulas of other countries, but aims to express the original beauties of their own immense land. In this way, to seek original sources, I traveled through America, I visited the beauties of your Middle West plains; through the national parks of New Mexico and Arizona; through Niagara and the Pacific cities. I could perceive what a real future this country has.

During the same travels, it is true, I saw many young artists in difficult situations. It is perhaps hard to say this, yet only through Golgothas is achievement tempered. But I could perceive that America had really many souls devoted to art who, living through the hardest experience, do not surrender their living vision. So I feel that, thanks to the artists, America’s creative work is rapidly advancing, and portends to make America a real art center.

Not so happy, however, is the state here with art collectors. If I was fortunate in meeting so many prominent artists, I did not have the same fortune meeting collectors. I met throughout the whole country only a few of them. I met several buyers of art, but the real, sincere collectors I met rarely. In several cities I even found that the distinction between buyer and collector was not realized. Similarly, I found a certain attitude, that it was not good taste to have too many art objects in one home. From where comes this unfortunate tale? I do not know, nor am I eager to know, because life itself will erase this foolish prejudice.

The lack of collectors for me was still more unusual because in Russia we have not so many buyers, but many collectors. In one of my recent articles, I spoke about Russian collectors, giving four portraits of prominent types, one a wealthy business man; another a high official; third, a young student of the University; and fourth, a Colonel in the army. The last one was very poor personally and even in this situation, he found it possible to gather a very precious collection of the first small sketches for paintings, because certainly he was unable to purchase expensive paintings. In such a variety of conditions, and in such a diversity of classes and possibilities, only one thing was unanimous,—the search for Beauty, the desire to have within the home real friends,—objects of art, and originals, because even the smallest original has more significance than a copy.

But this state of devotion to art will also come in America very soon. I have seen here many gifted and inspired teachers in art. Just now I recall a class given in the Master Institute of United Arts by Robert Edmond Jones, and I see what real creative work these prominent artists are inspiring in their pupils. During my travels in America I met a large group of people really devoted to art. Several are directors of museums such as Harshe, Eggers, Laurvick, Mrs. Sage-Quinton, Maurice Bloch, Burrows, Dudley Crafts Watson, Edgar Hewett, Kursworth, and numerous others. They are struggling for art and I can see how from those hospitals of art—the museums—the rays of art will penetrate into everyday life.

Already it seems a truism to speak about the real international language of art. But as a prayer, we must repeat it, because only by severe persistence can we act with full conviction. First, the physician must admonish, “Try the remedy once, and you will see the real results.”

New York, 1923.

Writings: Adamant