What Lies Within Us

Towering aspens blaze with gold in this quiet autumn scene by Mark Maggiori, their trunks standing tall like the columns of some natural cathedral. Two riders make their way along a dirt path, so small beneath the trees that they seem almost like an afterthought. The play between the fiery yellow leaves and the cool, dark blue sky gives the painting its glow, and light truly becomes the main character here, warming the whole forest floor.

A French-born artist, Maggiori found his calling in the landscapes and legends of the American West. His path was an unusual one, since he worked as a musician and photographer before turning to paint, and those earlier lives seem to feed his strong sense of mood and his eye for a well-framed moment. His work carries echoes of the great cowboy painters from the early 1900s, though he keeps a modern spirit all his own.

The title comes from a well-known line by Ralph Waldo Emerson, who wrote that what lies behind and before us is tiny next to what lies within. That thought gives this simple ride a deeper meaning, suggesting the real journey is happening inside the travelers rather than across the trail.