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Lecture by Ursula de Goede-Broug, 16 April 2014 (The Peace Palace, The Hague)
Nicolas Roerich The Artist [1]
Ladies and gentleman,
The Cosmic Evolution the film we shaw earlier today gave understanding of Roerichs’ paintings in reflecting the cosmic wisdom.
In my short lecture I like to give you an impression of Nicolas Roerichs’ education and life as an artist, a remarkable artist.
Roerich has become known as painter, graphic artist, theatre designer, mystic and founder of several cultural institutions.
Last year there was an opportunity to admire three paintings by Roerich in the Netherlands. [2] It was during the important exhibition: ‘De grote verandering’, ‘The big change. Revolutions in Russian painting, which took place in The Bonnefanten Museum in Maastricht. [3] Roerichs’ exhibited works at this show were all executed during the first ten years of the twentieth century. [4]
They came from The Russian Museum in St. Petersburg. This museum owns the widest collection of paintings of the artist and presents the Russian and foreign stages of Roerichs creative path.
At the moment, a survey of Roerichs works of art can been seen in the Russian Museum in St. Petersburg , at an extensive exhibition celebrating his 140th date of birth.
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[5] To become an artist, Roerich studied landscape painting at the Imperial Art Academy in St. Petersburg, the city were he was born. |
Even though graduated in landscape painting in 1897, Roerichs’ primary interest then remained the genre of historical subjects. In this genre he was most influenced by the Russian artist Victor Vasnetsov (1848-1926). And in those days Roerich took long journeys through Russia studying the cultural past.
Which resulted in paintings titled ‘Old Russian Cross for Truvor Town Site’. [6]
In September 1900 Roerich went to Paris to continue his study in the arts at the École des Beaux Arts. He also took lessons in the studio in Montmartre [7] of Fernand Cormon (1845-1924), the well known teacher of Vincent van Gogh and Toulouse-Lautrec.
Roerich became very inspired by French art and French artists whose works had the most impact on him were Gauguin, Degas and especially Puvis de Chavannes with his series of paintings titled ‘The History of S. Genevieve’ in the Pantheon in Paris. [8]
In 1913 he designed the stage designs and costumes and wrote the libretto for ‘Le Sacre du printemps’ for Sergei Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes which was first performed at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris on 29 May 1913.
At this time Roerich also participated in several international exhibitions, such as the Salon d’Automne in Paris and the St. Petersburg Salon.
And he accompanied the world of art in being chairman of ‘Mir Iskusstva’(the world of art), an artistic movement who also published an art magazine of the same name. [9]
As a mural painter he made fresco’s in the church of the Holy Spirit in Talashkino. [10]
Around 1917 Roerich and his wife Elena went abroad. They travelled to Finland, Scandinavia, England and America.
In London they met the Indian poet Rabrindranath Tagore and through this contact became fascinated by India and the Himalayas. And several years later they would visit this country.
But before that, an invitation to come to America was extended by the Chicago Art Institute.
The Roerichs accepted this invitation, and a major exhibition tour started successfully at the Kingore Gallery in New York in 1920. [11] More than 400 paintings were shown in many cities across the U.S.
For the Chicago Opera Company Roerich designed the scenery and costumes for several productions, among them, the opera Tristan and Isolde by Richard Wagner..
During his stay in America, Roerich kept on painting. Here, for instance, were we see him on the cliffs in Maine were he painted his famous ‘Ocean Series’. [12]
But also, while in New York he founded the Master Institute of United Arts, the International Art Center and the Nickolas Roerich Museum.
But most significant for Roerichs’ development was the long journey with his family to India and Central Asia. In November 1923 they boarded for Bombay. And by the end of the year they had reached the posh English resort of Darjeeling, on the southern slopes of the Himalayas, where Roerich became overwhelmed by the grandeur of the landscape.
At the end of their major travels, five years later the family settled in Kullu on the Himalayan foothills, with a magnificent view of the valley and the surrounding mountains.
Here Roerich made his famous Himalayan paintings. [13]
According to the Nicolas Roerich documentation kept at the RKD, the Netherlands Institute for Art History in The Hague, over 500 of his paintings past through the international art market in recent decades. That shows, that there is still interest in his monumental bright coloured paintings, an attention which can be best expressed in Nicolas Roerichs’ own words:
‘In beauty we are united, through beauty we pray, with Beauty we conquer’.
Thank you very much.
