Society and Culture: The exhibition “Nicholas Roerich” from the collections of the Russian Museum opened in Krasnodar

The large-scale exhibition project Nicholas Roerich has opened in the Kovalenko Krasnodar Art Museum. The exposition features over 40 works from the collections of the Russian Museum: those are the paintings from the pre-revolutionary “Russian period” of Roerich’s works, as well as the easel canvases and nature sketches of the “Indian period” of master’s life of 1930-1940s, when he was abroad.

Nicholas Roerich is a remarkable figure of Russian culture, painter, writer, philosopher, traveler, archeologist. The exposition also demonstrates theatrical works of the artist. Roerich made decorations for performances of the famous enterprise of Sergei Diaghilev in Paris, particularly Polovtsian Camp for Alexander Borodin’s opera Prince Igor (1909). The decorations were extremely well received by the viewers, critics and press. The decorations and costumes for Henrik Ibsen’s drama Peer Gynt (1912, Moscow Art Theatre) and Igor Stravinsky’s ballet The Rite of Spring (1913) are considered to be true masterpieces among the world set designs.

The artist knew the works of the representatives of the so-called “Russian cosmism” (Nikolai Fyodorov, Vladimir Solovyov, Konstantin Tsiolkovsky) well. Together with them, he looked for the answers to the eternal questions of life (The Biddings of Heaven, 1915) and dreamt of the travel to the East which he had to push back for years. As a result of the revolutionary events in Russia, Roerich found himself abroad. After a series of personal exhibitions in different countries, the master managed to reach India in 1923. In 1925-1928, Roerich participated in the expedition to remote areas of India, Mongolia and Tibet. Like the representatives of the Russian cosmism, he looked for the traces of mysterious Shambhala. Looking for new information, Roerich’s expeditions traveled for hundreds of kilometers, while the theme of Shambhala permeated his works more and more.

Paintings of these years are displayed in the exhibition. Landscapes, depicting glaciers of Karakorum, Altai snow, rocky ledges of the Tibetan Plateau, the Himalayas, mountain lakes, mountains and hills, sky and earth, are majestic and beautiful, full of earth and cosmic energy. Roerich has left a wonderful picturesque heritage that reflects his philosophy, his love for the East, and his faith in higher powers protecting people.

Institute of Himalayan Studies (the name of the institute Urusvati comes from a Sanskrit word for Dawn) was founded by Roerich. It was conceived to be a research institution for the comprehensive study of materials collected in the expeditions. Numerous paintings of the period were gifted to the Russian Museum by the painter’s son Yuri Nikolayevich, taking into account the wishes of the artist himself, in 1960. These paintings and sketches are presented in large amounts at the exhibition (Everest (Chomolungma), 1935; Stupa. Ladakh, 1937; Chatu-Gompa. Tibet, 1940).

In 1930-1940s, multiple mountain landscapes and easel pieces of religious and philosophical content were created, literary essays were written. The exception was a few paintings on Russian history and mythology (Boris and Gleb (1942), Igor’s Campaign (1942), A Single Combat of Mstislav and Rededi (1943)), created during World War II.  The painting Guerillas (1943) depicts a real scene from the Soviet reality that the painter could knew about only from newspapers. Roerich always remembered his Motherland, read the press, listened to the radio, conducted the correspondence, and published essays in support of his native country.

The exhibition will run until September 18.