Important Notice

Nicholas Roerich was a prolific 20th-century artist, archaeologist, writer, and theosophist from Russia, who made India his home. His mystical, atmospheric paintings of the Himalayas-of which the present lot is an exemplar-remain some of his best-regarded works. His immense contribution to Indian art has earned him the distinction of being the only artist of foreign origin whose works have been declared by the Government of India as national art... Nicholas Roerich was a prolific 20th-century artist, archaeologist, writer, and theosophist from Russia, who made India his home. His mystical, atmospheric paintings of the Himalayas-of which the present lot is an exemplar-remain some of his best-regarded works. His immense contribution to Indian art has earned him the distinction of being the only artist of foreign origin whose works have been declared by the Government of India as national art treasures, deeming them central to the country’s cultural heritage.

Born on 9 October 1874 in St Petersburg, Russia, Roerich was raised in an upper middle-class household surrounded by prominent artists, writers, critics, and intellectuals. As a child, he was enamoured by painting of a snow-covered Kanchenjunga hanging in the living room of the family estate near St Petersburg. “The estate’s very name foreshadowed his later career: isvara means “lord” or “supreme being” in Sanskrit, an appellation [its original owner] Count Vorontsov decided on after a visit to India. As his own interest in the East deepened, Roerich attached much significance to this coincidence.” (John McCannon, “Childhood and Youth, 1974-1893”, Nicholas Roerich: The Artist Who Would be King, Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2022, p. 17)

Roerich enrolled simultaneously at the Academy of Art and St Petersburg University to study law to appease his father who did not approve of him pursuing a career as an artist. He went on to establish himself as an eminent artist not just in Russia, but in parts of Europe as well within the first two decades of the 20th century. He immigrated to the United States in 1920 with wife Helena, where he founded the Agni Yoga Society in New York and an art institute in the following year which became the Nicholas Roerich Museum in 1949.

Both Roerich and his wife were deeply interested in Eastern spiritualism and arrived in India in 1923 with their sons George and Svetoslav hoping to find the path to ‘Shambala’, the mythical Buddhist paradise. The artist and his family toured historic sites and cultural centres across India, ending their journey in Sikkim. In his book, Heart of Asia, the artist chronicles their treacherous journey through the stunning Karakoram mountain range, whose beauty he attempted to capture even as the icy winds numbed his fingers. It was evident that Roerich was drawn not just to the physical magnificence of the Himalayas but also their spiritual resonance. The family embarked on a five-year expedition across Central Asia, covering Chinese Turkestan, Altai, Mongolia and Tibet. They eventually settled in the Kullu Valley at the Himalayan foothills in 1928, where they founded the Urusvati Himalayan Research Institute, a centre for the study of the Western Himalayas and neighbouring regions.

Nearly a century on, Roerich’s paintings remain an eternal ode to the awe-inspiring beauty of the Himalayas. The present lot is a masterful example of the distinctive painterly qualities that define his oeuvre-a serene palette of whites and blues is transformed into a exquisite study of light and shadow, with the details of the rocky terrain carefully outlined in myriad tones and hues. Though Roerich titled this work Qaraqorum (Karakoram), it is possible that the actual place depicted is the Zemu Valley in Sikkim, which the artist and his family visited in January 1924 during their first trip to India. As they travelled across the remote, unspoilt region on horseback, Roerich was taken by the beauty of its flora and fauna and delighted by its ancient monasteries.

The artist’s use of tempera as a medium, which was unusual for Russian artists at the time, lends a special depth and saturation of colour that emphasises the ethereal quality of the painting. The pursuit of beauty was sacred to Roerich who believed that art and beauty had the power to unite mankind and usher humanity towards its spiritual evolution. His paintings of the Himalayas are a symbolic reflection of his own spiritual journey and search for the divine. “...if mountains are symbols of transcendence, each effort to capture their essence becomes an act of meditative discipline, no less imbued with sacred meaning than the endlessly varied icons and mandalas that bear images of Christ or the Buddha Shakyamuni. Even those who do not see these works as literally sublime can find themselves powerfully stirred by them….” (McCannon, “Readjustment and Resignation, 1936-1939”, p. 453)

The present lot will be accompanied by two prints of paintings by Nicholas Roerich with handwritten labels indicating they were presented to the Macnabs, the original owners of the present lot. Also included are three publications on the artist: Nicholas Roerich - A Master of the Mountains by Barnett D Conlan, signed by Roerich; Roerich by Leonid Andreyev, E Gollerbach, and Michael Babenstchikoff, Circa 1920s, accompanied by a letter from Roerich; and an issue of Flamma, a quarterly journal by Flamma, Inc., Association for the Advancement of Culture, USA, with a series of essays on Roerich.

The present lot was acquired from the artist by Archibald Corrie Macnab, who writes in his manuscript An Episode in Indian History, dated August 1941: “At Naggar we made the acquaintance of the famous painter, Professor Nicholas Roerich, his charming wife [Alice MacLeod] and his two sons, one a Tibetan scholar and the other a portrait painter of note. Two of the Professor’s pictures, one of the mountains in Sikkim and one of the Karakorum, now adorn the walls of Kinnell. They are amongst my greatest treasures. The Roerichs resided in a fruit garden founded by a retired Indian Army Officer, and they lived in great luxury, attended by two Siberian orphans, whom they had acquired on their travels, and a private physician, and nourished on the most delicious fruit from the orchard. We greatly enjoyed meeting them and talking about matters far removed from the ordinary humdrum of Indian life.” The work was displayed under the title Glory of the Himalayas (listed as #21) at an exhibition of works by Nicholas Roerich and Svetoslav Roerich curated by renowned art historian James G Cousins. The show was organised by Osmania University at the Town Hall and Public Gardens in Hyderabad from 17 to 20 January 1939.

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