H to Roerich's essay. last years of life

Nicholas Konstantinovich Roerich (Roerich)(September 27 (October 9), 1874, St. Petersburg - December 13, 1947, Naggar, Himachal Pradesh, India) - Russian artist, stage designer, philosopher-mystic, writer, traveler, archaeologist, public figure.

During his life he created about 7,000 paintings, many of which are in famous galleries of the world, and about 30 literary works, including two poetic ones. The author of the idea and initiator of the Roerich Pact, the founder of the international cultural movements "Peace through Culture" and "Banner of Peace". Recipient of several Russian and foreign awards.

During the Russian period of his life and work, he was engaged in archeology, collecting, as an artist he successfully exhibited, participated in the design and painting of churches, worked as the director of the school of the Imperial Society for the Encouragement of Arts, headed the art association "World of Art", successfully worked as a stage designer ("Russian Seasons"), actively participated in projects for the protection and revival of Russian antiquity, in the activities of charitable organizations.

From 1917 he lived in exile. He organized and participated in the Central Asian and Manchurian expeditions, traveled a lot. He founded the Urusvati Himalayan Research Institute and more than a dozen cultural and educational institutions and societies in various countries. He was active in social activities, was associated with political and economic projects, had connections with the Bolsheviks and Freemasonry.

He was a member of many organizations. He was married to Helena Roerich. Had two sons - Yuri and Svyatoslav.

Since the 1920s, Roerich societies and museums have existed in different countries of the world. The community of followers of his ideas and the religious and philosophical teachings Living Ethics (Agni Yoga) form the Roerich movement. Roerich's ideas had a significant impact on the formation and development of the New Age in Russia.

• 1 Life and art
  • 1.1 Russian period
  • 1.2
  • 1.3
    • 1.3.1 general information
    • 1.3.2 Versions and interpretations
  • 1.4
  • 1.5
  • 1.7
  • 1.8 Manchurian expedition
  • 1.9 Roerich Pact and Banner of Peace
    • 1.9.1 Roerich's concept of culture
    • 1.9.2 Creation and signing of the Pact
  • 1.10 The Second World War
  • 1.11 Last years life
• 2 Awards
• 4 The main works of N. K. Roerich
• 5 Legacy
• 6 Roerich movement
  • 6.1
  • 6.2
• 7 Roerich Museums
  • 7.1 Exhibitions in museums
• 8
  • 8.1 Assessment by contemporaries
  • 8.2
• 9 Controversy
  • 9.1 Freemasonry
  • 9.2
• 10 Memory of N. K. Roerich
  • 10.1 Asteroid "Roerich"
  • 10.2
  • 10.3
• 11 Interesting Facts

Life and art

Russian period

His father - Konstantin Fedorovich - was a famous notary and public figure. Mother - Maria Vasilievna Kalashnikova, came from a merchant family. Brothers - Vladimir and Boris Roerich. Among the friends of the Roerich family were such prominent figures as D. Mendeleev, N. Kostomarov, M. Mikeshin, L. Ivanovsky and many others.

Since childhood, Nicholas Roerich was attracted by painting, archeology, history and the rich cultural heritage of Russia and the East.

In 1893, after graduating from the Karl May gymnasium, Nicholas Roerich simultaneously entered the law faculty of St. Petersburg University (he graduated in 1898 with a diploma in “The Legal Status of the Artists of Ancient Rus'”) and the Imperial Academy of Arts. Since 1895, he has been studying in the studio of the famous artist A. I. Kuindzhi. At this time, he closely communicated with famous cultural figures of that time - V. V. Stasov, I. E. Repin, N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov, D. V. Grigorovich, S. P. Diaghilev. In preparation for his thesis, Roerich will write: “In ancient and most ancient Rus' there are many signs of culture: our ancient literature is not at all as poor as Westerners wanted to present it”. The discovery, preservation and continuation of the signs of primordial Russian culture for many years will become the credo of N. K. Roerich.

Since 1892, Roerich began to conduct independent archaeological excavations. Already in student years he becomes a member of the Russian Archaeological Society. Since 1898 he began to cooperate with the St. Petersburg Archaeological Institute. In the last institution in 1898-1903. he was a lecturer in the special course "Artistic Technique as Applied to Archaeology", the organizer and one of the leaders of educational archaeological excavations, and also the editor-compiler of the "Archaeological Map of the St. Petersburg Province". Conducts numerous excavations in St. Petersburg, Pskov, Novgorod, Tver, Yaroslavl, Smolensk provinces. In 1897, Roerich became the first archaeologist who managed to find the burial complex of Vodi in the St. Petersburg region. In 1904, together with Prince Putyatin, Roerich discovered several Neolithic sites in Valdai (in the vicinity of Lake Piros). Since 1905, he began to collect a collection of Stone Age antiquities, which was highly appreciated at the French Prehistoric Congress in Perigueux (1905). By 1910, the collection included more than 30 thousand exhibits from Russia, Germany, Italy, and France (today it is exhibited in the Hermitage). In the summer of 1910, Roerich, together with N. E. Makarenko, conducted the first archaeological excavations in Novgorod. In 1911, with the active participation of Roerich, the Commission for the Registration of Antiquities in the St. Petersburg Province under the Society for the Protection and Preservation of Monuments of Art and Antiquities in Russia was created.

In 1897, N. K. Roerich graduated from the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts. His diploma painting "Messenger" was purchased by P. M. Tretyakov. Stasov V.V., a well-known critic of that time, highly appreciated this picture: “You should definitely visit Tolstoy… let the great writer of the Russian land himself make you an artist.” The meeting with Tolstoy for the young Roerich became fateful. Addressing him, Leo Tolstoy said: “Have you ever crossed a fast-moving river in a boat? You must always rule above the place where you need it, otherwise it will blow you away. So in the field of moral requirements, one must always steer higher - life will blow everything away. Let your messenger hold the rudder very high, then he will swim!”

Also, the words of Fr. John of Kronstadt, who often visited the house of Roerich's parents: "Be healthy! You will have to work hard for the Motherland.”

N. K. Roerich works a lot in historical genre. In the early period of creativity, he creates canvases: “Morning of the Kiev Heroes” (1895), “Evening of the Kiev Heroes” (1896), “The Elders Converge” (1898), “Idols” (1901), “They are building boats” (1903), etc. These works show the artist's original talent and innovative search in art. “Already in the first paintings, a peculiar style of Roerich emerges: his all-encompassing approach to composition, clarity of lines and conciseness, purity of color and musicality, great simplicity of expression and truthfulness”. The artist's paintings are built on a deep knowledge of historical material, convey a sense of the spirit of the times and are saturated with philosophical content.

At the age of 24, N. K. Roerich became assistant director of the museum at the Imperial Society for the Encouragement of Arts and at the same time assistant editor of the art magazine Art and Art Industry. Three years later, he holds the post of secretary of the Imperial Society for the Encouragement of Arts.

In 1899, Roerich met Elena Ivanovna Shaposhnikova on the estate of Prince Putyatin. In October 1901, their wedding took place. Helena Ivanovna became a faithful companion and inspiration for Nicholas Roerich, they will go hand in hand all their lives, creatively and spiritually complementing each other. In 1902, their son Yuri, a future orientalist, was born to them, and in 1904, Svyatoslav, a future artist and public figure.

From 1894 to 1902, Roerich traveled a lot to the historical places of Russia, and in 1903-1904, N.K. Roerich, together with his wife, made big Adventure across Russia, visiting more than 40 cities known for their ancient monuments. The purpose of this "trip through the old days" was to study the roots of Russian culture. The result of the trip was a large architectural series of paintings by the artist (about 90 studies), a collection of photographs of antiquity, which was part of Grabar's History of Russian Art, and articles in which Roerich was one of the first to raise the issue of a huge artistic value Old Russian icon painting and architecture.

... It's time for a Russian educated person to get to know and love Rus'. It is time for secular people, bored without new impressions, to become interested in high and significant, to which they have not yet been able to give their due place, which will replace gray days happy, beautiful life.

- Roerich N.K. According to the old days, 1903

After a large-scale journey through the cities of Russia, Roerich continued his travels and studies in Russian cities, and already in 1904 he visited the cities along the Volga, Mozhaisk, the Savvino-Starozhevsky Monastery, ending his journey in the village of Talashkino near Smolensk (the possession of Maria Tenisheva), where, together with Malyutin, Vruble, Benois, Korovin, Repin, etc., in practice, implements projects for the revival ancient Russian traditions in art and folk Russian crafts. Cooperation with Tenesheva will last until 1917. At the same time, in 1912-1915, Roerich actively participated in another major project the revival of Russian art - the construction of the Fedorovsky town. At the same time, from 1910 to 1914, he was the leading editor of the multi-volume publication "The History of Russian Art" under the general editorship of Grabar, and in 1914 - the editor and co-author of the large publication "Russian Icon". In the historical concept of Roerich, the correlation of the past, present and future is of paramount importance. The past and present are measured by the future: “... when we call to study the past, we will do it only for the sake of the future”. “From the ancient wonderful stones lay down the steps of the future”.

As an artist, Roerich worked in the field of easel, monumental (frescoes, mosaics) and theatrical and decorative painting. In 1906, he created 12 sketches for the Church of the Intercession of the Virgin in the Golubev estate in Parkhomovka near Kiev (architect Pokrovsky V.A.), as well as sketches for mosaics for the church in the name of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul at the Shlisselburg powder factories (architect Pokrovsky V A.) (1906) and the Trinity Cathedral of the Pochaev Lavra (1910), the iconostasis for the Church of the Kazan Mother of God of the Assumption Convent in Perm (1907), 4 sketches for painting the chapel of St. Anastasia near the Olginsky bridge in Pskov (1913), 12 panels for the Villa Livshitz in Nice (1914). In 1910-1914 he decorated the church of St. Spirit in Talashkino (compositions "The Queen of Heaven", "The Savior Not Made by Hands with the upcoming angels"). Some mosaics, created according to the sketches of Roerich by the workshop of V. A. Frolov, have survived to this day. In 1913-1914, Roerich created two monumental panels - "The Battle of Kerzhents" and "The Conquest of Kazan" to decorate the Kazan Station in Moscow (not preserved). In 1909-1915, he participated in the construction and decoration of the St. Petersburg Buddhist temple.

The multifaceted talent of Nicholas Roerich also manifested itself in his works for theatrical productions: "The Snow Maiden", "Peer Gynt", "Princess Malen", "Valkyrie", etc. He was among the creators of the reconstructive " Ancient theater"(1907-1908; 1913-1914) - a unique phenomenon in cultural life Russia at the beginning of the 20th century, with the participation of N. Roerich, he acted both as a designer of scenery and as an art critic. During the famous “Russian Seasons” by S. Diaghilev in Paris (1909-1913), in the design of N. K. Roerich, “Polovtsian Dances” from “Prince Igor” by Borodin, “Pskovityanka” by Rimsky-Korsakov, the ballet “The Rite of Spring” to music Stravinsky, in which Roerich acted not only as the creator of costumes and scenery, but also as a librettist

Since 1905, in the work of Roerich, along with ancient Russian theme, individual oriental motifs begin to appear. Essays on Japan and India were published (“Devassari Abuntu” 1905, “At the Japanese Exhibition” 1906, “The Borders of the Kingdom” 1910, “Lakshmi the Victorious” 1909, “The Indian Way” 1913, “The Commandment of Gayatri” 1916), paintings were painted in Indian motifs (“Devassari Abuntu” 1905, “Devassari Abuntu with Birds” 1906, “Border of the Kingdom” 1916, “Wisdom of Manu” 1916 - for the theosophical center in St. Petersburg). In addition to the collection of paintings of the "small Dutch" collected by Roerich, a collection of Japanese art appears. Roerich, in addition to Russian philosophy, studies the philosophy of the East, the works of the outstanding thinkers of India - Ramakrishna and Vivekananda, Tagore's work, theosophical literature. The ancient cultures of Russia and India, their common source, are of interest to Roerich as an artist and as a scientist. Since 1910, Roerich corresponded with the Indologist V. V. Golubev, and in 1913 they discussed plans for a joint expedition to India in order to study the commonality of Russian and Indian cultures, a project to create a museum of Indian culture in St. Petersburg. Collaborates with Agvan Dorzhiev.

From 1906 to 1918, Nicholas Roerich was the director of the School of the Imperial Society for the Encouragement of the Arts, while also teaching. Having accepted the appointment, he enthusiastically set to work: expanding the territory of the school, opening new departments and classes, restoring the rights of the pedagogical council, creating the Museum of Russian Art at the School, dreaming of reorganizing the School of the OPH into the Free People's Academy, or the School of Arts. A number of workshops are organized at the school (needlework and weaving (1908), icon painting (1909), ceramics and painting on porcelain (1910), chasing (1913), etc.). The famous icon painter from Mstyora D. M. Tyulin headed the icon-painting workshop. Under Roerich, the number of women's classes increased, and a women's etude class was created. The following were created: senior department, graphics class, lithographic workshop, medal class, sketch discussion class. Lectures on anatomy, ancient Russian art and architecture, and choir classes were introduced. happened significant changes and in curricula. A peculiar report of the semi-annual activity of the icon-painting workshop was the act of presenting to Emperor Nicholas II on December 6, 1909, an icon made by students.

Since 1906, the artist has been constantly participating in foreign exhibitions. In 1907 he was elected a member of the Society of Autumn Salons in Paris. Paris, Venice, Berlin, Rome, Brussels, Vienna, London met with his work. Roerich's paintings were acquired by the Museum of Luxembourg, the Roman National Museum, the Louvre and other European museums.

Since about 1906, a new period has been marked in Roerich's work. His art combines realism and symbolism, intensifying the search for a master in the field of color. He almost gives up oil and moves on to the tempera technique. He experiments a lot with the composition of paints, uses the method of superimposing one colorful tone on another. The originality and originality of the artist's art was noted by art criticism. In Russia and Europe, from 1907 to 1918, nine monographs and several dozen art magazines dedicated to Roerich's work were published. In 1914, the first volume of Roerich's collected works was published.

In 1909, N. K. Roerich was elected an academician of the Russian Academy of Arts and a member of the Reims Academy in France.

Since 1910, Roerich has headed the artistic association "World of Art", whose members were A. Benois, L. Bakst, I. Grabar, V. Serov, K. Petrov-Vodkin, B. Kustodiev, A. Ostroumova-Lebedeva, Z. Serebryakova and etc.

"The greatest intuitionist of the century", by the definition of A. M. Gorky, N. K. Roerich in symbolic images on the eve of the First World War, he expressed his disturbing forebodings: the paintings “Most Pure City - Embitterment to Enemies”, “Last Angel”, “Glow”, “Human Affairs”, etc. They show the theme of the struggle between two principles - light and darkness, passing through all creativity artist, as well as the responsibility of a person for his own destiny and the whole world. Nicholas Roerich not only creates anti-war paintings, but also writes articles on the protection of peace and culture.

In 1910, Roerich actively participated in the fate of the Savior on Nereditsa and Rurik's Settlement in Veliky Novgorod, he was worried about rough restorations and repairs in Yaroslavl, Pskov and Kostroma churches. In 1912, Roerich, together with A. K. Lyadov and S. M. Gorodetsky, opposed the renaming of historical places in Russia, and in 1915, N. K. Roerich made a report to Emperor Nicholas II and Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich (the younger) with a call to take serious state measures for the nationwide protection of cultural treasures, to consider the possibility of legislative approval of the Regulations on the protection of historical monuments in Russia. The draft of this Regulation will become a prototype of the future international Pact for the protection of cultural property.

... Just like an undrunk cup stands Rus'. An undrained cup is a full, healing spring. A fairy tale lurks among an ordinary meadow. Underground power burns with gems. Rus' believes and waits.

- Roerich N.K. Not drunk cup, Smentsovo, 1916

In 1916, due to a serious lung disease, N. K. Roerich, at the insistence of doctors, moved with his family to the Grand Duchy of Finland near Serdobol (Vuorio), on the coast of Lake Ladoga. Proximity to Petrograd made it possible to run the School of the Society for the Encouragement of Arts.

On March 4, 1917, a month after the February Revolution, Maxim Gorky gathered a large group of artists, writers and artists in his apartment. Among those present were Roerich, Alexander Benois, Bilibin, Dobuzhinsky, Petrov-Vodkin, Shchuko, Chaliapin. The meeting elected the Commission for the Arts. M. Gorky was appointed its chairman, A. Benois and N. Roerich were appointed assistants to the chairman. The commission dealt with the development of art in Russia and the preservation of ancient monuments.

Cultural and educational activities in Europe and America

After the revolutionary events of 1917, Finland closed its borders with Russia, and Nicholas Roerich and his family found themselves cut off from their homeland.

In 1918, having received an invitation from Sweden, Nicholas Roerich held personal exhibitions of paintings with great success in Malmö and Stockholm, and in 1919 - in Copenhagen and Helsinki. Roerich is elected a member Art Society Finland, awarded the Swedish Royal Order of the Polar Star II degree. Leonid Andreev figuratively calls the world created by the artist - "Roerich's Power". In the public arena, Roerich, together with Leonid Andreev, organizes a campaign against the Bolsheviks who have seized power in Russia. He is a member of the leadership of the Scandinavian Society for Assistance to the Russian Warrior, which finances the troops of General N. N. Yudenich, after which he joins the Russian-British 1917 Brotherhood emigrant organization.

In Finland, Roerich is working on the story "The Flame", the play "Mercy", composes the main part of the future poetry collection "Flowers of Moria", writes articles and essays, creates a series of paintings dedicated to Karelia.

In the same year, 1919, Roerich and his family come to London, hoping to fulfill his old dream from there - to go to India. However, due to financial difficulties, he has to stay in London. In the autumn of 1920, at the invitation of S. P. Diaghilev, Roerich designed Russian operas in London to the music of M. P. Mussorgsky and A. P. Borodin. Roerich gets to know Rabindranath Tagore closely, supports warm relationship with H. G. Wells, John Galsworthy, with cultural and art figures H. Wright, F. Bryangvin, A. Coates, B. Bottomley and others. in Worthing.

In London, Roerich established contacts with members of the Theosophical Society and in July 1920, together with his wife, joined its English branch. In London, according to the members of the Roerich family, the first meeting of the Roerichs with their future spiritual leader, the Mahatma of the East, takes place and the records of the first book of the future Agni Yoga teaching appear.

In 1920, N. K. Roerich received an offer from the director of the Chicago Institute of Arts to organize a large-scale three-year exhibition tour of 30 US cities, as well as to create sketches for costumes and scenery for the Chicago Opera. The Roerichs move to America. Roerich's first personal exhibition in the United States was opened in December 1920 in New York. After New York, residents of another 28 US cities, including Chicago, Boston, Buffalo, Philadelphia, San Francisco, saw Roerich's paintings. The exhibitions were an exceptional success. In America, Roerich made several trips to Arizona, New Mexico, California, Monhegan Island and created a series of paintings "New Mexico", "Ocean Suite", "Dreams of Wisdom". In America, Roerich also painted a series of paintings "Sankta" (Saints) about the life of Russian saints and ascetics.

Along with exhibitions, Roerich gives lectures on Russian art, on ethical and aesthetic education, and in November 1921 in New York he opens the “Master Institute of United Arts”, main goal which was the rapprochement of peoples through culture and art. Defining the tasks of the Institute, Roerich wrote:

Art will unite humanity. Art is one and indivisible. Art has many branches, but the root is one... Everyone feels the truth of beauty. The gates of the sacred spring must be opened to all. The light of art will illuminate countless hearts with new love. At first, this feeling will come unconsciously, but after that it will purify the entire human consciousness. How many young hearts are looking for something beautiful and true. Give it to them. Give art to the people where it belongs.

- Roerich N.K. About art

Almost simultaneously with the Institute of United Arts in Chicago, the association of artists "Cor Ardens" ("Flaming Hearts") was established, and in 1922 the International Cultural Center "Corona Mundi" ("Crown of the World") was created. In 1923, together with Georgy Grebenshchikov, Roerich created the Alatas publishing house (Alatas), together with the New York entrepreneur L. Horsh, established the Roerich Museum (Roerich Museum), as well as commercial enterprises World Service. Pancosmos Corporation, Beluha Corporation.

In 1921, a collection of poems by N. K. Roerich - “Flowers of Moria” was published in Berlin, in 1922 the book “Adamaht” (“Adamant”) was published in New York, in 1924 in Paris and Riga - the book “Ways of Blessing” and an album of paintings. In 1922-1923, two new monographs on the life and work of Roerich were published - "The World of Roerich: A Biography" (1922) and "Roerich" (1923). In 1924, the first book of Agni Yoga, Leaves of the Garden of Morya, written with the participation of Roerich, was published in Paris.

On May 8, 1923, Roerich left America with his wife and youngest son and went to Paris, and then to India, where a large-scale Central Asian expedition was organized under the leadership of Roerich. After that, Roerich visited the United States three times - in 1924, 1929 and 1934 for a very short time.

Central Asian expedition

Main article: Central Asian Expedition of Nicholas Roerich

general information

The events of the first Central Asian expedition were reflected in the diaries of N. K. Roerich "Altai-Himalayas" and Yu. N. Roerich "Along the paths of Central Asia", as well as the diaries of other participants in the Tibetan journey, in which attention is drawn to the special "Buddhist mission" of the expedition to Lhasa (Ryabinin, Portnyagin, Kordashevsky). There are also a number of declassified documents of Soviet, British and German intelligence about the activities of the Roerichs during the expedition.

On December 2, 1923, Nicholas Roerich and his family arrived from Paris to India, where he established cultural and business ties. The Roerichs cover over three thousand kilometers, visiting Bombay, Jaipur, Agra, Sarnath, Benares, Calcutta and Darjeeling (Sikkim). In Sikkim, the Roerichs determine the future route of the expedition, and in September 1924, Roerich and his youngest son make a trip to America and Europe to obtain the necessary permits and documents (officially, the expedition was declared American). After Europe, at the beginning of 1925, Roerich visited Indonesia, Ceylon, Madras. And then the main stage of the expedition begins, which passed through Kashmir, Ladakh, China (Xinjiang), Russia (with a stop in Moscow), Siberia, Altai, Mongolia, Tibet, through the unexplored regions of the Trans-Himalayas. The expedition continued until 1928.

During the expedition, archaeological and ethnographic research was carried out in unexplored parts of Asia, rare manuscripts were found, linguistic materials, folklore works were collected, descriptions of local customs were made, books were written (“Heart of Asia”, “Altai - Himalayas”), about five hundred paintings were created, on which the artist displayed a picturesque panorama of the expedition route, a series of paintings "The Himalayas" was launched, the series "Maitreya", "The Sikkim Way", "His Country", "Teachers of the East" and others were created.

In the process of preparing the expedition, the Roerichs, together with the American businessman Louis Horch, created two business corporations in New York - "Ur" and "Belukha", which had the goal of conducting a wide business enterprise on the territory of the Soviet Union. Being in Moscow during the expedition, Nicholas Roerich wanted to achieve registration, in accordance with Soviet laws, of the Belukha Corporation for the development of deposits. The Roerichs visited Altai with a scientific, reconnaissance and ethnographic expedition, selecting places for the proposed concessions and studying the possibility of "organizing a cultural and industrial center in the area of ​​Belukha Mountain."

The first Central Asian expedition of N. K. Roerich took place in several stages. Upon arrival in Mongolia, it developed into an independent Tibetan journey, now known as the Western Buddhist Mission to Lhasa (1927-1928). By its nature, the Tibetan expedition was not just artistic and archaeological, but, according to its leader, Roerich, had the status of a diplomatic embassy on behalf of the "Union of Western Buddhists". Roerich was considered by his entourage on the expedition as the "Western Dalai Lama".

In the autumn of 1927, under pressure from British intelligence, the expedition was detained by the Tibetan authorities on the outskirts of Lhasa and spent five months in snow captivity high in the mountains at sub-zero temperatures on the Changtang plateau. The expedition was never allowed into Lhasa and was forced, at the cost of incredible difficulties and losses, to break through to India. The Central Asian expedition ended in Darjeeling, where it deployed scientific work processing its results.

Versions and interpretations

There are several versions of what was the main purpose of the Roerichs' trip to the Central Asian expedition, and there is no consensus.

• Artistic and ethnographic purposes
  The version about the exclusively artistic and ethnographic goals of Roerich's Central Asian expedition is described in the works of Pavel Belikov and Lyudmila Shaposhnikova. Belikov wrote Roerich's biography in 1972, when additional sources about the expedition were not yet available.
• Execution of undercover tasks of the OGPU
  There is a widespread version that Roerich was an agent of the Comintern and the OGPU, and the expedition was organized with the money of Soviet intelligence, the purpose of which was to overthrow the Dalai Lama XIII. This version was first presented by Oleg Shishkin in his series of articles and in the book "Battle for the Himalayas". Currently this version considered controversial.
• political goals. Construction of the "New Country"
  According to Vladimir Rosov's version, Roerich was involved in big politics, trying to fulfill the utopian dream of a "New Country". According to Rosov, Roerich worked out a general plan for "United Asia", the main thesis of which was to combine the teachings of Buddhism with communist ideology on a national scale.
• Search for Shambhala
  According to this version, the Roerichs went on a Central Asian expedition to find Shambhala, and not to study plants, ethnology and languages. Versions about both the spiritual and political goals of the search for Shambhala are supported by the historian Andrei Znamensky in his book “ Red Shambhala».

Spiritual sessions. "Automatic Writing"

In the secular environment of St. Petersburg, a passion for spiritism was widespread, and since 1900 Nicholas Roerich participated in spiritualistic experiments. Since the spring of 1920, seances have been held in the Roerichs' house, to which friends and high-ranking dignitaries have been invited. The method of "automatic writing" was mastered.

Direct records by automatic writing were made mainly by N. K. Roerich, and partly by his son Yuri. Roerich made a series of pencil portraits in a trance, which depict Eastern Teachers - Buddha, Lao Tzu, Sister Oriola, Roerich's Teacher Allal-Ming and others. According to E. I. Roerich, her husband’s article “On the freedom of movement of objects of art” (1924) was “given” by automatic writing.

Here is how V. A. Shibaev (later Roerich’s secretary) describes their first joint seance:

I was invited to the artist Academician N. K. Roerich on the evening of June 2, 1920 and, as usual, sat with his son in the latter's room, talking about various scientific topics. I did not know that nearby Nikolai Konstantinovich and his wife, together with their youngest son, were engaged in spiritualistic experiments. I also didn't know that they were asking their leaders to let me join the circle. But having secured a positive response, I was asked to come in and sit down at a table. There was full light in the room, and I clearly saw that there was no possibility of deceit. The table trembled nervously and jumped up, and when they asked him who it was (there was a conditional knock: once - yes; twice - no; three times - reinforced yes), whether it was the Teacher, the table jumped up and hit once. Then there was a sequential message of letters. Namely, one of those present called the alphabet in continuous order, and when the letter was pronounced, a knock followed. So several phrases were collected.

The Roerichs' seances are also known from their intra-family correspondence and diary entries, where there is evidence that at seances with the Roerichs' table, "the souls of dead people" were called up.

During spiritualistic seances of "table-turning", which were not an end in itself, the Roerichs tried to establish contact with the Teachers (Mahatmas), which, in their opinion, they managed to do from the second half of 1921. Later, the Roerichs began to forbid their entourage from using spiritualistic sessions, and the Roerich family no longer needed the help of the table to introduce their "interlocutors" and to "hear" them. Researchers involved in the Roerich movement believe that real meetings of the Roerichs with the Mahatmas took place. Sufficient evidence for the existence of mahatmas is lacking. .

According to some Soviet researchers, Roerich, after attending séances, developed a sharply negative attitude towards spiritualism, and Roerich's worldview has no roots in occult-spiritual "revelations". Roerich himself did not consider himself a mystic (nor did some of his collaborators), believing that the desire to "know the subtlest energies" is not mysticism, but a search for truth.

Merging Buddhism with Communism. "Mahatma Lenin"

After the October Revolution, Roerich stood in open opposition to Soviet power, wrote accusatory articles in the émigré press. However, soon his views suddenly changed, and the Bolsheviks found themselves in the category of Roerich's ideological allies. In the autumn of 1924, he left America for Europe, where he visited the Soviet representative office in Berlin, met with Plenipotentiary N. N. Krestinsky and then with his assistant G. A. Astakhov.

The ideological closeness to communism manifested itself among the Roerichs in literature. The Mongolian edition of The Community (1926), one of the books of Agni Yoga, contained frequent references to Lenin and drew parallels between the communist community and the Buddhist one. In fact, it gave instructions to the Soviet government on the need to immediately implement the reforms initiated by Lenin (which was not done). Later, a "universal" version of the book was published (2nd edition, Riga, 1936) - without mentioning the names of Lenin and Marx, and the word "commune" was replaced by the word "community". For example, in paragraph 64 of the "Communities" of 1936, the words that were in the 1926 edition no longer exist: “Take the appearance of Lenin as a sign of the sensitivity of the Cosmos”.

In Khotan, the Roerichs got the famous letter of the Mahatmas to be handed over to the Soviet government and a casket with Himalayan earth on the grave of “Mahatma Lenin”. Roerich handed over all the gifts personally to People's Commissar Chicherin in June 1926, and he transferred them to the Lenin Institute. Also in Khotan, on October 5, 1925, the artist conceived the painting "Lenin's Mountain", which is now stored in the Nizhny Novgorod State Art Museum. The picture clearly shows the easily recognizable image of Lenin. Later, Roerich renamed the painting "The Phenomenon of the Term", but in Moscow it appeared under his original name, about which in the gift Roerich wrote with his own hand: "Mount Lenin."

Mount Lenin rises like a cone between two wings of a white ridge. Lama whispers: "Lenin was not against true Buddhism"

From the manuscript of the expeditionary diary of N. K. Roerich "Altai-Himalayas", preserved in the archive of the Foreign Policy of the Russian Federation (Moscow), entry dated 02.10.1925.

Roerich handed over the paintings of the Maitreya series to the People’s Commissar of Education A. V. Lunacharsky, which were not accepted by any Soviet museum, since the art commission considered them non-communist and decadent, and they hung for a long time in A. M. Gorky’s dacha.

The extensive scientific material collected by the Roerichs during the expedition required systematization and processing, and at the end of the expedition on July 12, 1928, the Institute of Himalayan Research was founded in New York, and then in the Western Himalayas, in the Kullu Valley, N. K. Roerich founded the Institute " Urusvati”, which in Sanskrit means “Light of the Morning Star”. Here, in Kullu, the last period of the artist's life will pass. Yuri Roerich, the eldest son of Nicholas Roerich, an orientalist, becomes the director of the Institute. He also supervised ethnological-linguistic research and exploration of archaeological sites.

Medical, zoological, botanical, biochemical and many other laboratories worked at the institute. A lot of work was done in the field of linguistics and philology of the East. Collected and translated into European languages rare written sources of centuries ago, half-forgotten dialects were studied. Invited experts and temporary employees collected botanical and zoological collections.

Dozens of scientific institutions from Europe, America and Asia cooperated with the Institute. He sent scientific materials to the University of Michigan, the New York Botanical Garden, Punjab University, the Paris Museum of Natural History, Harvard University, and the Botanical Garden of the USSR Academy of Sciences. Academician N. I. Vavilov, a well-known Soviet botanist and geneticist, turned to the Urusvati Institute for scientific information, and also received seeds from there for his unique botanical collection. Such outstanding scientists as Albert Einstein, Louis de Broglie, Robert Milliken, Sven Gedin, and others collaborated with the institute. Since 1931, the institute published a yearbook in which the results of the scientific activities of its employees were published. Scientific and periodical publications in Asia, Europe and America published articles on special issues being developed in Urusvati.

Soon a world crisis broke out, then a world war. The Institute of Himalayan Research was deprived of opportunities for activity and was mothballed. Currently, there is also a critical opinion about the activities of the institute as having no independent scientific evaluation, unconfirmed by specialists in the field of medicine, psychology and anthropology.

Master Building and conflict with Luis Horch

In 1922, Roerich met a prosperous New York broker, Louis L. Horch. Horsch and his wife Nettie came under the strong influence of Roerich's personality and as a result became the most generous of his followers.

In 1925, while Roerich was in Asia, Horsch began the implementation of Roerich's largest project in the United States - the construction of the Master Building ( The Master Building, the name can be translated as the House of the Teacher or the House of the Master). The Master Building was a 29-story Art Deco skyscraper with the Roerich Museum and The Master Institute of United Arts on the first two floors, and an apartment hotel on the top two floors. For the construction of the building in 1923, a public organization was established - the Roerich Museum, managed by President L. Horsch and the Board of Trustees, N. K. Roerich was elected Honorary President. Funding sources were Horsch's donations and a bond issue.

The Master's House was inaugurated in November 1929. The museum's collection included more than a thousand paintings by Roerich (most of which were bought for the museum by Horsham), works of Tibetan art, and a library of Tibetan manuscripts. An auditorium for 300 seats was intended for holding public events. The Institute of United Arts organized classes in painting, sculpture, architecture and design. With the opening of the Master's House, Roerich's popularity in the United States reached its highest point.

Horsch helped Roerich in his other undertakings - he financed the Guru expeditions and the enterprises organized by him, primarily the Ur and Belukha concessions. Since 1929, all the commercial undertakings of Roerich and Horsch were unsuccessful. Roerich's Manchurian expedition of 1934-35 (see below) turned, as it was perceived from the USA, into a continuous scandal; the American press accused Roerich of "humiliating the US government." Horsch's trust in Roerich, initially unlimited, gradually turned out to be more and more undermined. In August 1935, a crisis broke out - Horsch finally left Roerich's obedience.

Horsch, as the President of the Roerich Museum and its creditor, had a significant influence on the Board of Attorneys. As it turned out, control over the House of the Master essentially belonged to Horch, and Roerich disposed of it insofar as Horch was ready to voluntarily obey him. As a result of a series of scandals, seizures of property and lawsuits, the Roerich Museum and the Institute were closed by 1938, the building fell under the control of Horsch.

Horsch initiated a check tax service United States, as a result of which N.K. Roerich's non-payment of income tax in the amount of $48,000 was revealed, and also won a lawsuit against Roerich in the amount of $200,000 in court. Together with Roerich's break with G. E. Wallace, claims against Roerich by the US Government, the critical attitude of the American press towards Roerich, these debts led to the fact that Roerich could never return to the United States. Roerich and Horsch never reconciled.

Manchurian expedition

Roerich shared the ideas of the Eurasian role of Russia and pan-Mongolism common among the Russian intelligentsia of the early 20th century, and after analyzing the trends in world politics and the prophecies collected in the Central Asian expedition, he comes to the conclusion that the mid-1930s may be marked by the unfolding of the process of "unification of Asia", which will begin with Mongolia, Manchuria, northern China and southern and southeastern Siberia. Wishing to take part in this process if possible, he organizes through the American Department of Agriculture a long-term expedition to Manchuria and northern China. In 1930, Roerich became friends with G. E. Wallace, who, having become the Minister of Agriculture in the administration of Franklin Roosevelt, sent Roerich on an expedition to collect plant seeds that prevent the destruction of fertile soil layers.

The expedition was organized in 1934-1935 and consisted of two parts. The first route included the Khingan ridge and the Barga plateau (1934), the second - the Gobi, Ordos and Alashan deserts (1935). These routes passed through the territory of Inner Mongolia, located in the northern and northeastern part of modern China. The artist painted many sketches, conducted archaeological research, collected materials on linguistics and folklore. Roerich wrote 222 essays for the “Diary Sheets” over the course of 17 months, which reflect expeditionary work, touch on scientific and philosophical topics. As a result of the expedition, about 300 species of drought-resistant herbs were found, medicinal plants were collected. 2,000 parcels of seeds were sent to America. Secretary of Agriculture Henry Wallace, who initiated the expedition, subsequently reported that almost all of the seeds found were either of little or no value.

However, during the expedition, Roerich, largely ignoring the mission entrusted to him, plunged into Asian politics, in vain inciting the Buddhist masses to revolution. Roerich's first business meeting after leaving the United States on an expedition was in Japan with Minister of War Hayashi Senjuro, and the purpose of the meeting was to explore the possibilities of creating a new state in northeast Asia. During the expedition, Roerich and his son Yuri not only formally cooperated with emigre organizations such as the Military Monarchist Union, the Military Cossack Union, the Legitimists, but also took concrete steps, for example, provided financial assistance to the Siberian Cossack army and bought the newspaper "Russian Word" for the Russian All-Military Union.

Roerich was the most active among the numerous Russian emigration, becoming a notable cultural leader. This caused dissatisfaction with the US authorities, on whose behalf and at whose expense the expedition was carried out. It also attracted the attention of the White Guard counterintelligence, which, having established the fact of Roerich's visit to Moscow and his theosophical hobbies, fanned a scandal in the press. The Japanese authorities, supported by pro-Japanese circles, were dissatisfied with Roerich's work to unite emigration in the Far East and carried out a campaign in the Harbin press to discredit Roerich's cultural mission. Japanese censorship arrested the entire print run of N. K. Roerich's book "Sacred Watch" printed in the printing house. After the publication of a scandalous article in the Chicago Tribune in June 1935, which reported on military preparations for an expedition near the borders of Mongolia, Minister Wallace broke off relations with the Roerichs, as they could ruin his reputation in the eyes of voters.

The expedition was prematurely terminated in Shanghai on September 21, 1935. The deprivation of support from G. Wallace and businessman L. Horsch at the end of 1935 led to the destruction of the activities of all Roerich institutions in the United States.

Roerich Pact and Banner of Peace

Roerich's concept of culture

In his philosophical and artistic essays, Roerich creates a new concept of Culture based on the ideas of Living Ethics. Culture, according to N. K. Roerich, is closely connected with the problems of the cosmic evolution of mankind and is the "greatest pillar" of this process. "Culture rests on Beauty and Knowledge" he wrote. And he repeated the famous phrase of Dostoevsky with a slight correction: "Awareness of Beauty will save the world". Beauty is known by a person only through Culture, an integral part of which is creativity. This is also mentioned in the books of Living Ethics, the direct participation in the creation of which was taken by the Roerichs. Elena Ivanovna wrote down, and Nikolai Konstantinovich displayed the ideas of the Living Ethics in artistic images.

Postage stamp of Mexico.
On the stamp - the emblem of the United Nations and the symbol of the Banner of Peace

In the broad concept of Culture, N. K. Roerich included a synthesis of the best achievements of the human spirit in the field of religious experience, science, art, and education. Nicholas Roerich formulated the fundamental difference between Culture and civilization. If Culture is related to the spiritual world of a person in his creative self-expression, then civilization is only an external arrangement of human life in all its material, civil aspects. Identification of civilization and Culture, Nicholas Roerich argued, leads to a confusion of these concepts, to an underestimation of the spiritual factor in the development of mankind. He wrote that “Wealth in itself does not yet give Culture. But the expansion and refinement of thinking and the feeling of Beauty give that refinement, that nobility of spirit, which distinguishes a cultured person. It is he who can build a bright future for his country.” Proceeding from this, humanity must not only develop Culture, but must also protect it.

Creation and signing of the Pact

In 1928, N. K. Roerich, in collaboration with G. G. Shklyaver, Doctor of International Law and Political Sciences of the University of Paris, prepared a draft Treaty for the Protection of Cultural Property (the Roerich Pact). Together with the Treaty, N. K. Roerich proposes a distinctive sign for identifying objects of protection - the Banner of Peace, which is a white cloth with a red circle and three red circles inscribed in it, symbolizing the unity of the past, present and future in the circle of eternity, according to another version - religion , art and science in the circle of culture.

For the international cultural activities and the initiative of the Pact in 1929, Roerich was nominated by the co-author of the Pact Shklyaver G. G. for the Nobel Peace Prize. In 1929, the text of the draft Treaty with an accompanying appeal by N. K. Roerich to the governments and peoples of all countries was published in the press and sent to government, scientific, artistic and educational institutions around the world, and international conferences were held. As a result, committees were formed in a number of countries in support of the Pact, and the World League of Culture was also established. The draft of the Pact was approved by the Museum Committee of the League of Nations, as well as by the Pan American Union.

Roerich hoped that the Pact would have educational value. “The pact for the protection of cultural treasures is needed not only as an official body, but as an educational law, which from the first school days will educate the younger generation with noble ideas about preserving true values of all humanity"- said Nicholas Roerich. The idea of ​​the Pact was supported by Romain Rolland, Bernard Shaw, Rabindranath Tagore, Albert Einstein, Thomas Mann, H. G. Wells and etc.

The US State Department deemed the pact "useless, weak, and unenforceable." On August 30, 1933, the government announced the uselessness of the Roerich Pact, since all the points of this document were already included in the Hague Convention of 1907, adopted by the United States at the state level. However, the approval of the treaty by President F. Roosevelt and the propaganda of the Pact by Minister Henry Wallace, who at that time considered Roerich his Guru, prevailed over the opposition of the State Department. The signing of the Pact took place on April 15, 1935 at the White House in Washington with the personal participation of Franklin Roosevelt. The document was ratified by 10 out of 21 countries of the American continent.

The signing of the Roerich Pact received a great response both in America and in Europe. This allowed Roerich to make a second attempt to achieve the Nobel Peace Prize, about which the employees of the Roerich Museum in New York received the corresponding task, having gone to Europe with a package of letters of recommendation. Henry Wallace, the day after the signing of the Pact, sent letters to 15 recipients, including Bernard Hansen, Vice-President of the Nobel Peace Prize Committee, as well as to the President himself, Dr. Frederick Stang, expressing the official opinion that "Professor Roerich could be the most preferred candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize".

However, Roerich did not receive the Nobel Prize again, and on June 23 a scandal erupted in America, provoked by an article by Beijing journalist John Powell in the Chicago Tribune newspaper, which concerned Roerich's Manchurian expedition. As a result of the scandal, Henry Wallace terminated the Roerich expedition ahead of schedule and did everything to annul the Pact. To do this, on October 24, 1935, he sent a series of letters to officials and ambassadors of Latin American states and almost all European powers, reporting on "those who fanatically continue their politics, raising the name, not the ideal"(total in 57 countries). Having lost faith in Roerich, Wallace even tried to rename the Roerich Pact.

The Roerich Pact was the first international act specifically dedicated to the protection of cultural property, the only agreement in this area adopted by a part of the international community before World War II. In 1949, at the 4th session of the General Conference of UNESCO, it was decided to start work on international legal regulation in the field of the protection of cultural property in the event of an armed conflict. In 1954, the Roerich Pact formed the basis of the Hague "International Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict".

The ideas of the Pact were also reflected in the art of Nicholas Roerich. The emblem of the "Banner of Peace" can be seen on many of his canvases of the thirties. The painting "Madonna-Oriflamma" is specially dedicated to the Pact.

The Second World War

While in India, Nicholas Konstantinovich Roerich from the very first days of World War II uses every opportunity to help Russia. Together with his younger son Svyatoslav Roerich, he arranges exhibitions and the sale of paintings, and transfers all the proceeds to the fund of the Soviet Red Cross and the Red Army. Writes articles in newspapers, speaks on the radio in support of Soviet people.

During the war years, the artist again turns to the theme of the Motherland in his work. During this period, he creates a number of paintings - "Igor's Campaign", "Alexander Nevsky", "Partisans", "Victory", "Bogatyrs woke up" and others, in which he uses images of Russian history and predicts the victory of the Russian people over fascism.

... Anyone who takes up arms against the Russian people will feel it on his back. Not a threat, but the thousand-year history of peoples said so. Various pests and enslavers bounced off, and the Russian people in their boundless virgin lands dug out new treasures. That's how it's supposed to be. History keeps evidence of the highest justice, which has already said menacingly many times: “Do not hinder!”.

N. K. Roerich's "Diary Sheets" contains many pages dedicated to the military and labor feat of the Soviet people.

In 1942, before Battle of Stalingrad, Nikolai Roerich hosted Jawaharlal Nehru, a freedom fighter for India, and his daughter Indira Gandhi in Kullu. Together they discussed the fate of the new world, in which the long-awaited freedom of the conquered peoples would triumph. “We talked about the Indo-Russian Cultural Association,- Roerich wrote in his diary, - it is time to think about useful, constructive cooperation…”. Indira Gandhi recalled:

My father and I had the good fortune to know Nicholas Roerich. He was one of the most impressive people I have ever met. He combined a modern scientist and an ancient sage. He lived in the Himalayas for many years and comprehended the spirit of these mountains, reflecting their countless moods and combinations of colors. The paintings of Nicholas Roerich inspired many new trends among our artists.

When the Nazi troops occupied many territories of the USSR, Nicholas Roerich turned to his employees with a request to serve the cause of mutual understanding between the peoples of the two powers - Russia and the USA. In 1942, the American-Russian Cultural Association (ARKA) was founded in New York. Among the active employees were Ernest Hemingway, Rockwell Kent, Charlie Chaplin, Emil Cooper, Sergei Koussevitzky, P. Geddas, V. Tereshchenko. The activities of the association were welcomed by world-famous scientists Robert Milliken and Arthur Compton.

last years of life

In India, Nicholas Roerich was personally acquainted with famous Indian philosophers, scientists, writers, and public figures.

In India, the artist continues to work on a series of paintings "The Himalayas", comprising more than two thousand canvases. For Roerich, the mountain world is an inexhaustible source of inspiration. Art critics noted a new direction in his work and called him "the master of the mountains." In India, the series "Shambhala", "Genghis Khan", "Kuluta", "Kulu", "Holy Mountains", "Tibet", "Ashrams", etc. were written. a large number of of people.

"Professor Nicholas Roerich". 1944
Svyatoslav Roerich

Immediately after the end of the war, the artist requested a visa to enter the Soviet Union, but on December 13, 1947, he passed away without knowing that he had been refused a visa.

In the Kullu Valley, on the site of a funeral pyre, a large rectangular stone was erected, on which the inscription was carved:

Awards

• Cavalier Russian orders St. Stanislav, St. Anna and St. Vladimir.
• Cavalier of the Yugoslav Order of Saint Sava.
• Chevalier of the Order of the Legion of Honor of France.
• Knight of the Royal Swedish Order of the Polar Star.

List of organizations, of which N. K. Roerich was a member

1. Active member Russian Academy Arts (Russian Empire).
2. Member of the Russian Archaeological Society (Russian Empire).
3. Member and one of the founders of the Society for the Revival of Artistic Rus' (Russian Empire).
4. Chairman of the artistic association "World of Art" (Russian Empire).
5. Member of the Union of Russian Artists (Russian Empire).
6. Member of the Society for the Protection and Preservation of Monuments of Art and Antiquity in Russia (Russian Empire).
7. Member and one of the founders of the Society of Artists. A. I. Kuindzhi (Russian Empire).
8. Member of the Art Society of Finland (Finland).
9. Founder of the Institute of United Arts in New York (USA).
10. Founder of the International Cultural Center "Corona Mundi" (USA).
11. Honorary Director of the Nicholas Roerich Museum in New York and its branches in Europe, America and the countries of the East.
12. Active member of the Yugoslav Academy of Sciences and Arts (Zagreb).
13. Active member of the Portuguese Academy (Coimbra).
14. Active member of the Reims Academy (France).
15. Active member of the International Institute of Science and Literature (Bologna, Italy).
16. Honorary Member of the Committee for Culture (Buenos Aires, Argentina).
17. Vice President of the Mark Twain Society (USA).
18. Vice President of the American Institute of Archeology (USA).
19. Honorary Member of the Benares Enlightenment Society (India).
20. Honorary Member of the More Society (France).
21. Member of the Red Cross (France).
22. Member of the Society for the Study of Antiquities (France).
23. Life member of the Federation of French Artists (Paris).
24. Member of the Autumn Salon (Paris).
25. Life member of the Society of Antiquaries (Paris).
26. Honorary President of the International Union in Support of the Roerich Pact (Bruges).
27. Honorary patron of the Historical Society at the Academy (Paris).
28. Honorary President of the Roerich Society in France (Paris).
29. Founding member of the Ethnographic Society (Paris).
30. Honorary President of the Roerich Academy (New York).
31. Honorary President of the Flamma Society for Cultural Progress (Indiana, USA).
32. Honorary President of the Roerich Society in Philadelphia (USA).
33. Honorary Member of the Society for the Preservation of Historic Monuments (New York).
34. Honorary President of the Latvian Roerich Society (Riga).
35. Honorary President of the Roerich Societies in Lithuania, Yugoslavia, China.
36. Honorary member of the Subhas Chandra Bose Institute (Calcutta).
37. Member of the Jagadis Bose Institute (India).
38. Member of the Nagati Prachari Sabha (India).
39. Life Member of the Royal Asiatic Society in Bengal (Calcutta).
40. Life member of the Oriental Art Society (Calcutta).
41. Honorary President and Doctor of Literature of the International Institute for the Study of Buddhism in San Francisco (California) [International Buddhist Institute (USA).
42. Honorary member of the Russian Museum of History and Culture in Prague (Czechoslovakia).
43. Honorary Member of the Luzas Society (Paris).
44. Honorary Member of the League for the Defense of Art (Paris).
45. Patron of the Cultural Society (Amritsar, India).
46. Benefactor Member of the Association international studies(Paris).
47. Honorary Member of the Field Association (St. Louis, USA).
48. Honorary Member of the Braurveda Society (Java).
49. Honorary Member National Association Natural Medicine in America (Los Angeles, California).
50. Honorary President of the Center for Arts and Culture (Allahabad, India).
51. President of the League of Culture (USA).
52. Honorary President of the American-Russian Cultural Association in New York (USA).

The main works of N. K. Roerich

Get up, friend. News received.
Your vacation is over.
Now I know where is stored
one of the sacred signs.
Think of happiness if
we will find one sign.
We must go to the sun.
Prepare everything at night.
Night sky, look
unbelievably wonderful today.
I won't remember this.
Yesterday Cassiopeia
was both sad and hazy,
Aldebaran shimmered fearfully.
And Venus did not appear.
But now everyone is up.
Orion and Arcturus flashed.
Far beyond Altair
new star signs
glitter, and nebula
constellations is clear and transparent.
Don't you see
way to what
will we find it tomorrow?
The star runes have awakened.
Take your property.
You don't need a weapon with you.
Put on tighter shoes.
Get tight.
Our path will be rocky.
Brightens the east. Us
it's time.

1916

N. K. Roerich "It's time"
(from the collection of poems "Flowers of Morya")

1. Art and archeology // Art and art industry. SPb., 1898. No. 3; 1899. No. 4-5.
2. Some Antiquities of the Shelon Pyatina and the Bezhetsky End. SPb., 1899.
3. Excursion of the Archaeological Institute in 1899 in connection with the issue of Finnish burials in the St. Petersburg province. SPb., 1900.
4. Some antiquities of the pyatins of Derevskaya and Bezhetskaya. SPb., 1903.
5. In the old days, St. Petersburg, 1904 (drawing by the author).
6. Stone Age on Lake Piros. SPb., 1905.
7. Collected works. Book. 1. M.: Publishing House of I. D. Sytin, 1914.
8. Tales and parables. Pg.: Free Art, 1916.
9. Violators of Art. London, 1919.
10. Morya flowers. Berlin: Slovo, 1921.
11. adamant. New York: Korona Mundi, 1922.
12. Ways of Blessing. New York, Paris, Riga, Harbin: Alatas, 1924.
13. Altai - Himalayas. (Thoughts on a horse and in a tent) 1923-1926. Ulaanbaatar, Hoto, 1927.
14. Heart of Asia. Southbury (st. Connecticut): Alatas, 1929.
15. Flame in Chalice. Series X, Book 1. Songs and Sagas Series. New York: Roerich Museum Press, 1930.
16. Shambhala. New York: F. A. Stokes Co., 1930.
17. Realm of Light. Series IX, Book II. Sayings of Eternity Series. New York: Roerich Museum Press, 1931.
18. State of Light. Southbury: Alatas, 1931.
19. Flame Stronghold. Paris: World League of Culture, 1932.
20. Banner of Peace. Harbin, 1934.
21. Holy Watch. Harbin, 1934.
22. Gateway to the Future. Riga: Uguns, 1936.
23. Indestructible. Riga: Uguns, 1936.
24. Roerich Essays: One hundered essays. In 2 volumes. India, 1937.
25. Beautiful Unity. Bombey, 1946.
26. Himavat: Diary Leaveves. Allahabad: Kitabistan, 1946.
27. Himalayas - Adobe of Light. Bombey: Nalanda Publ, 1947.

Inheritance

After the death of Nicholas Konstantinovich Roerich, it turned out that in his will he wrote: “I hereby bequeath all my property, paintings, literary rights... for life use to my wife Helena Ivanovna Roerich. After that, I will bequeath all the said property to the All-Union Communist Party.” Roerich appointed I. V. Stalin, People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs G. V. Chicherin and Consul General of the USSR in China A. Bystrov as executors of his will.

In 1957, part of the property of N. K. Roerich was brought to Moscow by his eldest son Yuri. More than 400 paintings, collectibles, a collection of oriental books were transferred to the state and entered into the collections Tretyakov Gallery, Russian Museum, Novosibirsk art gallery, the Gorlovsky Art Museum, the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, etc. Yu. N. Roerich kept the most valuable paintings, family archives, works of art of the peoples of the East and other things in his apartment. He died in 1960, and a significant part of the legacy of N. K. Roerich continued to remain in his apartment, since the decision by the USSR Ministry of Culture to create a memorial museum-apartment was delayed. The former housekeeper N. K. Roerich and her husband remained in the apartment, who categorically refused to give away valuables that did not belong to them.

The other part of the inheritance remained in India, in the possession of Roerich's younger son, Svyatoslav. In 1974, in connection with the celebration of the anniversary of Nicholas Roerich in the USSR, Svyatoslav Nikolayevich brought a collection of his and his father's paintings from India. The paintings were widely exhibited and were later transferred to the State Museum of the East. In 1990, another part of the father's property belonging to Svyatoslav Roerich was transferred by him to the Soviet Roerich Foundation.

Roerich movement

The emergence of the Roerich movement

The Roerich movement arose in the 1920s in such countries as the USA (New York), Latvia (Riga), France (Paris), Bulgaria (Sofia), China (Harbin). In the 1920s and 1930s, Roerich societies began to be created, which aimed to promote the Roerich Pact, while simultaneously spreading the ideas of Agni Yoga (“Living Ethics”). Since 1935, after Roerich's support from businessman Louis Horch and politician Henry Wallace ceased, the movement began to decline.

One of the most active was the Roerich Society of Latvia. It was in Riga that many of the Living Ethics books were first published. This society existed before the accession of Latvia to the USSR in 1940. In a short period of time, the publishing house of the Latvian Society published about 50 books, a periodical, etc. The initiator of this publishing activity was Vladimir Anatolyevich Shibaev (1898-1975), a Riga resident. Since 1932, the publishing activity was taken over by Richard Yakovlevich Rudzitis (1898-1960), a poet and connoisseur of the culture and traditions of the East, who was invited in 1929 to translate works on philosophy.

Roerich societies, circles and groups also existed in Germany, Switzerland ("Crown Mundi"), Estonia, Manchuria (Harbin).

Revival of the Roerich movement

Bottom line creative life Roerich became the richest legacy. Today, Roerich organizations operate in some countries of Europe, America and Asia, as well as in Australia. Roerich societies exist in such countries of the former USSR as Belarus, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Georgia, Moldova, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia. The Roerich movement of Living Ethics admirers, which was formed in the USSR during perestroika, had a significant impact on the development of the New Age in Russia. According to the Department of State-Confessional Relations of the Russian Academy of Public Administration under the President of the Russian Federation, the movement of the Roerich followers belongs to new religious movements and is an exponent of the New Age tradition, dating back to neomysticism, theosophy and anthroposophy. In 2002, the Roerich movement experienced a split, largely due to disputes over the Roerich heritage.

Roerich Museums

Roerich Museum in New York

The first Roerich Museum was founded on November 17, 1923 and officially opened to the public on March 24, 1924 in New York City (310 Riverside Drive) with the help of Roerich's close circle of associates, with the financial support of businessman Louis Horch. At the time, it was the only museum in America dedicated to the work of just one artist. Since 1929, the museum and all Roerich institutions were housed in a specially constructed building on the site of the former museum - a 29-story skyscraper The Master Building(see Master Building). However, the conflict between the Roerichs and Horsch, which began in 1935, led to the ruin of all American Roerich organizations, including the closure of the museum.

Thanks to the efforts of Helena Roerich, Catherine Campbell-Stibbe and Zinaida Fosdick, another Nicholas Roerich Museum was opened in New York in 1949. It is the world's oldest center representing Roerich's paintings and distributing reproductions of his paintings and numerous books about him, about his life and work.

Roerich Museum in Riga (1933-1940)

The Roerich Museum in Riga was established in 1933 by the Latvian Roerich Society on the initiative of N. K. Roerich. Forty canvases by N.K. Sergius (1936), Kuluta (1937), Himalayan and Mongolian landscapes. The museum existed until 1940. In January 2010, a memorial plaque was unveiled on the building that housed the museum.

Museum of the International Center of the Roerichs in Moscow

As a result of complex and dramatic events, the Museum named after Nicholas Roerich was created under the public organization "International Center of the Roerichs", whose director is Lyudmila Shaposhnikova.

The first exposition was opened in the museum on February 12, 1993. The halls of the museum host annual international scientific and public conferences with the participation of prominent scientists and public figures, exhibitions and concerts are organized, lectures are given on the Roerich heritage.

Museum-estate of N. K. Roerich in Izvara

In the Izvara estate near St. Petersburg, since 1984, the Nicholas Roerich Estate Museum has been opened, which is a unique complex of monuments of nature, archeology, architecture, history and culture, the first State Roerich Museum in Russia. Currently, the Museum Complex is located on 60 hectares and includes 9 estate buildings of the 18th - early 20th centuries, an old park, spring lakes.

The Izvara estate was acquired in 1872 by K. F. Roerich, the artist's father. The Roerich family owned the estate from 1872 to 1900. In the 1910s, the Ministry of Justice purchased the estate from the last owners for the St. Petersburg children's agricultural colony, the architectural ensemble of which (architect A. A. Yakovlev, 1916) complemented the appearance of the estate and is currently part of the Museum complex.

The museum holds conferences, holidays, poetry and musical evenings, international peacekeeping actions. Since 2002, a comprehensive scientific expedition has been operating on the territory of the Museum-Estate to study the nature of Izvara, and archaeological research has been carried out. July 31, 2006 by governor Leningrad region V. P. Serdyukov signed an Order on the development of a project for the creation of a specially protected natural area "Natural Monument" within the boundaries of the Museum-Estate of N. K. Roerich in Izvara.

Museum of the Roerich family in St. Petersburg

St. Petersburg government agency Culture "Museum-Institute of the Roerich Family" was established on March 12, 2007. The basis of the memorial exposition of the Museum-Institute was the legacy preserved by Helena Roerich's niece L. S. Mitusova and her family. For several years of the museum's existence, the owners of private collections have donated a number of art and other exhibits to the museum.

To date, its funds include about 15 thousand items, including personal items, manuscripts, paintings, arts and crafts, archaeological finds, photographs and other exhibits related to the life and work of the Roerich family.

State Museum-Reserve them. N. K. and E. I. Roerichs in the village of Verkh-Uimon

The exposition of the museum-reserve is divided into three thematic sections: the early period of creativity of N. K. Roerich, the Central Asian expedition and the Roerich Pact, the Urusvati Institute and the Indian period of creativity. Also here are books from the personal library of the Roerich family, a number of original documents and lifetime editions of N. K., E. I. and Yu. N. Roerichs. On the basis of the museum-reserve, expositions dedicated to the archeology and history of the Altai Mountains, the nature of the Uimon Valley, the culture of the Altai peoples and Russian Old Believers have been deployed.

Odessa House-Museum. N. K. Roerich

Odessa House-Museum named after N. K. Roerich is located at the address: Odessa, st. Bolshaya Arnautskaya, 47, on the 3rd floor of a 3-storey building. The exposition is located in 5 halls, including the concert hall.

Exhibitions in museums

State Museum of the East

In the State Museum of Oriental Art in Moscow, on the basis of the collections received from K. Campbell and S. N. Roerich, the Memorial Study of N. K. Roerich, a permanent exhibition of his work and the scientific department of the Roerichs' heritage were created. Already in 1977, a specialized Roerich hall was opened in the museum in its permanent exhibition. In accordance with the requirements of the wife of S. N. Roerich, Devika Rani Roerich, who expressed her will to transfer the Roerich family heritage into the hands of the Russian state, a government decree of November 4, 1993 was adopted on the establishment of the State Roerich Museum as a branch of the State Museum of Oriental Art with accommodation him in the Lopukhins' estate, chosen by Svyatoslav Roerich. However, by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of December 17, 2010 No. 1045, Decree No. 1121 of November 4, 1993 was declared invalid. The Museum of the East has a scientific department of the Roerichs' heritage, which is engaged in a comprehensive study and popularization of their life and work.

State Museum of the History of Literature, Art and Culture of Altai

Contains a permanent exhibition “Workers of world culture in Altai. G. D. Grebenshchikov. N. K. Roerich. The museum funds contain manuscripts by N. K. Roerich and members of his family: articles and poems, letters, fragments of diary entries, lectures (1890-1970s). Postcards in the name of Nicholas Roerich during the period of the Central Asian expedition (1925). Letters from N. K. Roerich to P. F. Belikov from Kullu (1937-1939). Copies of letters from Helena Roerich to US President T. Roosevelt (1934-1936), material sources, paintings, sketches, sketches by Nicholas Roerich.

Estimates of N. K. Roerich and his work

Assessment by contemporaries

The artist and art critic I. E. Grabar highly appreciated the talent of Roerich the artist, but gave him a rather sharp personal description:

Roerich was a mystery to all of us. [..] I don’t even know now and never knew before where Roerich’s sincerity, his true credo, ends, and where the pose, mask, shameless pretense and the capture of the viewer, reader, consumer calculated by the sage of life begin. [..] these two elements - truthfulness and falsity, sincerity and falsehood - are inextricably soldered in the life and art of Roerich ... [..] Roerich is in general a special phenomenon, so unlike everything that we know in Russian art, that his figure stands out as a dazzlingly bright spot against the rest of the background of my memories of the life and deeds of artists of long gone years. Roerich, first of all, is undeniably brilliantly gifted ...

At the request of Roerich, in the spring of 1919, L. Andreev wrote an article entitled “The Power of Roerich”:

... One cannot but admire Roerich ... the richness of his colors is infinite ... the path of Roerich is the path of glory ... Roerich's brilliant fantasy reaches those limits beyond which it becomes already clairvoyance.

The artist and critic S.K. Makovsky gave an expressive psychological portrait of Roerich the painter:

A dreamer of the past… [Roerich] is always cold, invariably terribly mute even when he wants to be affectionate and illuminate the stone desert of gray distances with a human feeling… Roerich’s world seems to me like a fabulous petrification, and its colors lie as hard as a mosaic, and its forms do not breathe, they do not falter, like everything living and transient, but remain unshakable, likening the outlines and edges of their rocks and cave flints.

On the other hand, Nikolai Gumilyov highly appreciated Roerich's work:

Roerich is the highest degree of modern Russian art... The manner of his writing - powerful, healthy, so simple in appearance and so refined in essence - changes depending on the events depicted, but always reveals the petals of the same soul, dreamy and passionate. With his work, Roerich opened the unopened areas of the spirit that our generation is destined to develop.

Prime Minister of India J. Nehru:

When I think of Nicholas Roerich, I am amazed at the scope and richness of his activity and creative genius. great artist, a great scientist and writer, archaeologist and researcher, he touched and illuminated so many aspects of human aspirations. The quantity itself is amazing - thousands of paintings, and each of them is a great work of art.

Also among Roerich's contemporaries, who highly appreciated his creative activity, were: G. D. Grebenshchikov, M. M. Fokin, A. I. Gidoni, Yu. K. Baltrushaitis, E. F. Gollerbakh, S. Radhakrishnan and others.

Modern assessments of life and work

Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences Dmitry Sergeevich Likhachev wrote about N. K. Roerich:

N. K. Roerich was an ascetic of culture on a global scale. He raised over the planet the Banner of Peace, the Banner of Culture, thereby indicating to mankind the ascending path of perfection.

Likhachev also considered Roerich, along with Lomonosov, Derzhavin, Pushkin, Tyutchev, Solovyov, and others, one of the “most powerful and original thinkers in Rus'” who contributed to the knowledge of the world through its artistic comprehension.

In October 2011, at the presentation of the Nicholas Roerich Prize, Leonid Mikhailovich Roshal said the following:

Roerich for me is a huge admiration for a humanist who was always looking, who had plans, carried out plans. In everything, he had an idea to unite people and oppose everything that is unkind in the world.

The cultural activities and philosophical heritage of Nicholas Roerich and his family were highly appreciated by such figures of science, culture and higher government agencies as Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR Andrey Gromyko, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Academician of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences Alexander Kadakin, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, member of the Presidium of the Higher Attestation Commission, Honored Scientist of the Russian Federation Evgeny Chelyshev, President of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences, Honored Scientist of Russia O. L. Kuznetsov , Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation Evgeny Primakov, Chairman of the Federation Council Mikhail Nikolaev, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, President of the All-Russian Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Minister of Agriculture of Latvia Alexander Nikonov, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, President of the Russian Academy of Cosmonautics. K. E. Tsiolkovsky A. S. Koroteev, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, President of the Russian Academy of Ecology, Advisor to the President of the Russian Federation A. L. Yanshin, Academician and Vice-President of the National Academy of Sciences of the Kyrgyz Republic V. M. Ploskikh.

In October 1975, Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, who personally knew Nicholas Roerich, expressed the following opinion about the Russian artist:

His paintings amaze with their richness and subtle sense of color and, above all, wonderfully convey the mysterious grandeur of the nature of the Himalayas. Yes, and he himself, with his appearance and nature, seemed to some extent imbued with the soul of the great mountains. He was not verbose, but restrained power emanated from him, which seemed to fill the entire surrounding space with itself. We deeply respect Nicholas Roerich for his wisdom and creative genius. We also appreciate it as a link between Soviet Union and India ... I think that the paintings of Nicholas Roerich, his stories about India will convey Soviet people part of the soul of their Indian friends. I also know that N. K. Roerich and his family contributed in many ways to creating a more complete picture of the Soviet country in India.

Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke of N. K. Roerich in the following way:

(Answer to the question: What are your associations with India?) First, we must immediately recall the well-known both in Russia and in India artist Nicholas Roerich. This amazing life, this is an amazing work, this is an amazing example of spiritual closeness, perhaps not lying on the surface, but nevertheless the spiritual closeness of our peoples ... Russia and India noted the importance of preserving and supporting the unique artistic and cultural heritage of the Roerich family, which is of enduring importance for the Russian - Indian friendship.

From the joint statement of the parties on the results of Vladimir Putin's official visit to India on December 3-5, 2002.

Valery Kuvakin, President of the Russian Humanist Society, Doctor of Philosophy expressed the following opinion about the research of Nicholas Roerich:

Traditional science does not confirm Roerich's "discoveries" in the field of medicine, psychology and anthropology. All the studies he conducted were not evaluated by an independent expert<…>Roerich's teaching on Living Ethics is a contradictory mixture of scientific, anti-scientific, paranormal and quasi-religious statements.

controversy

freemasonry

Modern researchers of Freemasonry claim that N. K. Roerich was a Freemason. According to the biography of the artist, written by the historian M. L. Dubaev (ZhZL series), Nikolai Konstantinovich joined the Masonic (Rosicrucian) lodge in the USA in the 1930s, immediately receiving the highest degree of initiation.

The founder of the Ancient Mystical Order of the Rose and Cross (AMORC), Harvey Spencer Lewis, listed Nicholas Roerich among the famous people who were Rosicrucians. The artist was the subject of articles in the magazine Rosicrucian Digest. Ibid in 1933 for authorship Frater Nicholas de Roerich, F.R.C. article was published The New Banner of Peace. A special message to all rosicrucians" dedicated to the Roerich Pact. According to V. S. Brachev, Doctor of Historical Sciences, the ideas of the Roerich Pact and the Banner of Peace are Masonic in nature.

As V. A. Rosov notes, during the Manchurian expedition, Nicholas Roerich failed largely due to the fact that the artist in the Harbin press “a flurry of accusations rained down that he was a representative of“ secret forces ”, a legate of the Great White Brotherhood - AMORK (Ancient Mystical Order of the Rose and Cross)”.

Sources close to the Roerich movement believe that information about Roerich's affiliation with Freemasons comes from the book by V.F. Ivanov "The Orthodox World and Freemasonry" and critical publications of the emigrant press during the artist's stay in Harbin. Helena Roerich denied that their family belonged to Freemasonry.

Political views and projects

For a long time, N. K. Roerich was known only as an artist and cultural figure (Roerich's paintings, Roerich's pact). Only after the 1990s did documents revealing his ambitious political views and plans become public. It was under these projects that the skyscraper Master Building was built for N. K. Roerich in New York. When in 1935 it became clear that all plans had finally failed, President F. D. Roosevelt personally told Roerich's sponsor L. Horsch, "We don't need Roerich anymore."

A letter was sent through the governor to the Dalai Lama. It says that the Mission of the Western Buddhists went to Tibet to invite the Dalai Lama to lead them too, merging both East and West into one. She was carrying gifts and the Order of the All-Conquering Buddha, as well as 500,000 narsangs (about 160,000 US dollars) to the monasteries. But the Dalai Lama didn't even send anyone to receive the mission. Now the mission of N.K.R. is over, the Head of the Western Buddhists has been chosen, and the flow of the teaching is flowing freely in the West. (28.02.28, p.241)

N.K.R. talks about unnecessary sentimentality towards people. There should only be a desire to contribute to the evolution of mankind, but there should not be stops in front of living corpses, which are only “cosmic rubbish”. Living creative spirits, and not shadows disappearing from life, should evoke a desire to help and guide you on the path. Man, family, people, race, humanity of the planet, humanity as a whole planetary system- everything is subject to the same law... So is Tibet, "cosmic rubbish" between nations, - is in a period of spiritual dying. This is the same living corpse as an individual person with the life of the spirit extinguished in him, wandering through the cemetery of the past. (6.03.28, p.250)

N.K.R. says that if we treated the Tibetans as other savage tribes standing at the lowest stage of development, then everything we note would, of course, be refracted from a completely different angle, and we would pass through Tibet, just not removing his hands from the handle of the revolvers. (04/24/28, p. 312).

Roerich's political projects are analyzed in detail by Doctor of Historical Sciences. V. A. Rosov. See his fundamental work “Nicholas Roerich, Bulletin of Zvenigorod. Expeditions of N. K. Roerich on the Outskirts of the Gobi Desert”, Volume 1: “The Great Plan” (2002) and Volume 2: “New Country” (2004), dedicated respectively to the Central Asian and Manchurian expeditions.

There is evidence that during the Manchurian expedition, Nicholas Roerich actively interfered in Asian politics. These facts are denied by researchers who consider Roerich's activity to be exclusively cultural, just as they were previously denied by Roerich himself:

“We have never been involved in politics, and I know that this circumstance sometimes caused bewilderment and even censure. They did not belong to any political party and even had some lengthy and unpleasant conversations about this.

Memory of N. K. Roerich

• In 1974, the 100th anniversary of Nicholas Roerich was included by UNESCO in the "Calendar of memorable dates of great personalities and events (1973-1974)".
• The 100th anniversary of Nicholas Roerich was celebrated in the USSR. As reported in the UNESCO Courier, greetings were received from the World Peace Council and a personal message from Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. An exhibition of paintings by N. K. Roerich was held at the Academy of Arts of the USSR, and a conference dedicated to his work was held, at which the artist's son, S. N. Roerich, spoke. On November 21, a solemn anniversary evening was held at the Bolshoi Theater of the USSR Union with the participation of members of the public.
• In Moscow, on the territory of the Lopukhins' estate in front of the Museum named after Nicholas Roerich, a monument to Nicholas and Helena Roerich was erected.
• One of the streets in the center of Riga was named in honor of Nicholas Roerich.

• In the village of Izvara, Leningrad region, where Nicholas Roerich lived for a long time, since 1984, the Museum-estate of Nicholas Roerich has been operating.
• In St. Petersburg, there is the St. Petersburg Art College. N. K. Roerich and the Museum of the Roerich family.
• In 1999, the Bank of Russia issued two commemorative coins dedicated to the 125th anniversary of the birth of Nicholas Roerich.
• In honor of N. K. Roerich, the ship "Artist Nicholas Roerich" was named.
• In 2003, the international Nicholas Roerich Prize was established in honor of the 300th anniversary of St. Petersburg, and since then it has been awarded annually.
• In 2007, the new Aeroflot airliner Airbus A321 (VP-BRW) was named after Nicholas Roerich.
• Acquaintance with the life and work of Nicholas Roerich is included in the compulsory curriculum for high school students in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. This decision was made by the Education Council of this region in northern India, where Nicholas Roerich and his family lived for many years. According to Himachal Pradesh Board of Education Chairman Chaman Lal Gupta, the rising generation should know about the life and legacy of such an extraordinary personality. “We are proud that it was Himachal Pradesh that became for Roerich the place that, in Indian tradition, is considered to be a destiny predestined for a person”, - said Chaman Lal Gupta.
• On March 25-26, 2008, as part of the Year of Russia in India, New Delhi hosted the Russian-Indian festival "The Roerichs and the Cultural and Spiritual Unity of Russia and India", timed to coincide with the 80th anniversary of the Roerichs' foundation in Naggar (Kulu Valley) of the Institute of Himalayan Studies. studies of "Urusvati" and the 100th anniversary of the birth of the outstanding Indian film actress Devika Rani Roerich, the wife of the youngest son of Nicholas Roerich - S. N. Roerich. In December 2008, at the closing ceremony of the Year of Russia in India, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev noted:

The Year of Russia in India fully justified our expectations. More than 150 events took place within its framework. But, of course, not only their number is impressive, but also the originality of these events. This and the Festival Russian culture, and joint work to preserve the heritage of the Roerich family.

• In September 2009, a monument to Nicholas Roerich was opened on the territory of the special economic zone "Turquoise Katun" in the Altai Territory.
• As part of the celebration of the 135th anniversary of the birth of N. Roerich on November 11, 2009, one of the largest universities in the Indian capital Jamia Millia Islamia (New Delhi) hosted Grand opening photo exhibition "The Banner of Peace - the Roerich Pact", organized by the Representative Office of Rossotrudnichestvo in India together with the Academy of Third World Studies (ATWS-JMI).

Memorial plaque on the house where N. K. Roerich was born
St. Petersburg, Universitetskaya embankment, 25.

• November 12 and 13, 2009 at the Rabindranath Tagore Hall of Jamia Millia Islamia University. An international seminar "Nicholas Roerich: heritage and search" was held.
• To celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Roerich Pact in 2010, the International exhibition project"Roerich's Age" (St. Petersburg), which was attended by more than 70 museums, libraries, archives and private collections from 33 cities of Russia and the world.
• On November 9, 2010, a monument to Nicholas Roerich was unveiled in St. Petersburg. A monument made of Karelian granite 3.5 meters high was installed in the Vasileostrovets garden at the intersection of Bolshoy Prospekt with the 25th line of Vasilyevsky Island. Sculptor V. V. Zaiko and architect Yu. F. Kozhin.
• Named in honor of N. K. Roerich the new kind riders from Nepal, Lathrolestes roerichi Reshchikov, 2011
• In 2013, the International Astronomical Union named a crater on Mercury after N. K. Roerich.

Asteroid "Roerich"

On October 15, 1969, astronomers of the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory Nikolai Stepanovich and Lyudmila Ivanovna Chernykh discovered a small planet (asteroid) in the solar system and named after the Roerich family. Asteroid 4426 has been registered.

In October 1999, in his speech at the Roerich Museum about this event, astronomer N. S. Chernykh, who discovered more than 500 asteroids, said: “The name was approved by a special commission of the International Astronomical Union, consisting of 11 representatives from different countries of the world. Only with unanimous opinion the name is accepted. The appearance of the small planet “Roerich” is an international recognition of the creativity and outstanding achievements of the Roerichs.”

Geographical objects named after N. K. Roerich

Peak and pass named after N. K. Roerich in Altai

On August 15, 1963, on Independence Day of India, Tomsk climbers V. Syrkin, G. Shvartsman, A. Ivanov, V. Petrenko, L. Spiridonov, G. Skryabin, V. Slyusarchuk, Yu. Salivon, B. Gusev, S. Lobanov climbed to the previously unnamed peak and named it after N. K. Roerich.

Near the Roerich Peak there is a pass, also named after him.

Glacier and passes named after N. K. Roerich in the Tien Shan

On the Tien Shan there are two passes and a glacier named after N. K. Roerich.

The Roerich Pass is located on the Saryzhaz Ridge. The height of the pass is 4320 meters. It connects the valleys of the rivers Chontash, Tyuz and Achiktashsu. The first ascent of the pass was made by a group of climbers led by A. Posnichenko.

The second pass, named after N. K. Roerich, is located in the northwestern part of the Ak-Shyirak ridge and connects the middle part of the Petrov glacier and the valley of the Sarytor river. The height of the pass is 4500 meters.

The glacier of Nicholas Roerich is located at an altitude of 3700 meters and originates on the Alamedin wall.

Postage stamps depicting N. K. Roerich and his work

• 1974, USSR - A stamped envelope was issued by the Ministry of Communications of the USSR. It depicts a portrait of N. K. Roerich against the background of his painting "Overseas guests". In the same year, a stamp was issued with the image of this picture.
• 1974, India - a commemorative stamp was issued, which depicts the obverse of a commemorative medal created in 1929 in Paris on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the artistic, scientific and social activities of Nicholas Roerich.
• 1977, USSR - The Ministry of Communications of the USSR issued two stamps with the image of the Church of the Holy Spirit in Talashkino, above the entrance of which a mosaic "The Savior Not Made by Hands" was made according to the sketches of N. K. Roerich.
• 1978, Bulgaria - a stamp was issued with a fragment of the portrait of N. K. Roerich, made by S. N. Roerich. In addition to the stamp, a first-day envelope was issued, and at the main post office in Sofia on April 5, 1978, the cancellation was carried out with a first-day stamp.
• 1986, Mexico - A stamp was issued with a coupon dedicated to International Year peace (Año Internacional de la Paz). On the stamp there is the emblem of the United Nations and the symbol of the Banner of Peace by Nicholas Roerich, the signatures are “ONU” (UN) and “Pax Cultura” (Pact of Culture).
• 1990, USSR - two stamps dedicated to the Soviet Cultural Fund were issued. On one of them, the painting by N. K. Roerich "Unkrada" (1909) is reproduced, on the second - the painting "Pskov-Pechora Monastery".
• 1999, Russia - the Marka Publishing Center of the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications of Russia issued a stamped envelope “Russian artist N. K. Roerich. 1874-1947" for his 125th birthday. The stamp depicts a fragment of the portrait of Nicholas Roerich, painted by S. N. Roerich in 1934, against the background of a fragment of Nicholas Roerich's painting "The Book of Life".
• 2001, Russia - the Marka Publishing Center of the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications of Russia issued a stamped envelope dedicated to the International Treaty on the Protection of Artistic and Scientific Institutions and Historical Monuments (the Roerich Pact). In the illustration - a painting by N. K. Roerich “The Pact of Culture. Banner of Peace "(1931).
• 2003, Moldova - a stamp was issued with the image of the painting “Pact of Culture. Banner of Peace" (1931), as well as on the Russian stamp of 2001.
• 2008, Russia - the publishing center "Marka" issued an envelope dedicated to the Central Asian expedition of Nicholas Roerich (1923-1928).

• In 1912, a monument was erected on the grave of the composer N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov in the form of an ancient Novgorod cross, made according to the sketch of N. K. Roerich.
• The famous historian and orientalist L. N. Gumilyov used a fragment of the painting by N. K. Roerich “Flowers of Timur. Lights of Victory" (1931) for the cover design of his book "Hunnu" (1960).
• On April 12, 1961, during the first flight into space, cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin wrote in the logbook:

The rays shone through the earth's atmosphere, the horizon became bright orange, gradually turning into all the colors of the rainbow: to blue, blue, purple, black. Indescribable colors! Like on the canvases of the artist Nicholas Roerich.

• June 5, 2013 Roerich's painting "The Works of Our Lady" was sold at the auction house Bonhams in London for 7.88 million pounds. This is a world record for a painting by a Russian artist.

Nicholas Roerich is known throughout the world for his artistic genius. In addition, he showed his creative abilities in literature, was fond of archeology, traveled a lot and was engaged in active social activities. However, few people know that Roerich is the founder of his own religious and mystical movement. His classes and regular ones served as a pretext for excommunicating the artist from the church.

Nicholas Roerich painted pictures all his life. There are more than 7,000 copies of them, not counting the numerous sketches for mosaic complexes and frescoes in various temples and churches. The artist traveled an incredible number of countries, which was reflected in his works. A great imprint on his whole life was left by the philosophy of the East.

Nicholas Roerich gave many mysteries and uniqueness to the whole world. The paintings he painted in his younger years are significantly different from later paintings, but this does not detract from their artistic value. His first significant work in the world art became "Messenger".

"Rise generation for generation" (1897)

Talent literally escaped from Roerich at the time of the painting "Rise generation to generation" made a splash. Tretyakov himself bought it for his gallery. Leo Tolstoy spoke enthusiastically about the picture. Using a plot from the Gospel of Matthew, through his "Messenger" the young Roerich conveys a message to all the people on behalf of Christ. In parting words, a cry that wars, illnesses and disasters are coming. The famous critic Stasov said then: "Tolstoy will understand what news the messenger is in a hurry with."

"Idols" (1901)

Just 4 years after the first major success, a new Nicholas Konstantinovich Roerich appears before us. His paintings become more plot and fantastic, all the details are drawn more clearly and more confidently, in comparison with the author's early works. His "Idols" are the embodiment of pagan thoughts and images inspired by archaeological expeditions.

A paling with animal skulls strung on it, and a pensive old seer wandering alone between the figures of silent idols... This plot was continued by other works, for example, "Sinister", written in the same year.

Roerich's prophecy

(with names) are presented in many domestic and foreign catalogs. Among them there are well-known and not so. There are at least two works that are considered prophetic - "The Condemned City" and "The Cry of the Serpent". Both pictures were painted one by one in 1914, shortly before the revolution. Solovyov, Roerich's friend and critic, wrote that the author's works echoed ancient parable about Babylon.

Nicholas Roerich paints pictures, playing with contrasts. So it is here: against the backdrop of a fiery sky and a snake that wrapped around the city from all sides, the gloomy gray walls of fortresses rise. In this author's hopelessness - the inevitability of an imminent revolutionary wave.

Heavenly fantasies

Nicholas Roerich always frames paintings with plot content with the outline of clouds. He gives them a special place in his works, and sometimes even leading role. For example, the painting "The Decree of Heaven". Roerich in his literary memoirs describes the clouds as something special that he remembers from early childhood. Possessing a wide creative imagination, in perpetual motion he constantly noticed something new: heroes, horses, dragons.

In the painting "The Decree of Heaven" people play minor role praying with hands raised up. The play of clouds is noticeable in many other works of the artist, such as "Three Crowns", "Heavenly Battle" and others.

Saint Panteleimon

The artist Nicholas Roerich often paints paintings based on biblical subjects or folk legends. His work "Panteleimon the Healer" about a skilled healer-herbalist is interesting. But even here it is not clear where the boundary between heaven and earth lies. And here and there you can see special landscapes. Against their background, Panteleimon is just a part of nature. Medicinal herbs emit light in the depths of the night. The herbalist's long beard flutters and mingles with the wind. Nature and man are one - this is the main idea of ​​this picture.

Roerich and the North

Wherever he traveled, no matter what countries he visited, Nicholas Roerich, a native of St. Petersburg, always loved and appreciated the restrained northern beauty. The paintings (photos are presented in the article), which he painted all his life, for the most part convey the landscapes of his childhood.

The "Holy Island" demonstrates all the power and impregnability of Valaam, whom the artist met in 1906. There are no ordinary people here. Everything is sacred on the island, from man to stone. It seems that the outlines of faces are visible everywhere, and the people themselves are decorated with halos.

Eastern philosophy

Nicholas Roerich gave many years of his life to the East. His paintings are often thoroughly saturated with a special philosophy. On all oriental plots - people with their own customs, worldview, striving for light and calm. Roerich endows each picture with a soul that is not clear to everyone, but attracts with a unique charm.

The variegation of the Himalayan mountains seems artsy and contrived to those who have not seen them in nature. The artist fell in love with the East so much, he became so close to him that even on his tombstone there is an inscription about his friendship with the Indian people.

At the end of his life, Roerich, permeated with Eastern culture, adopted Lamaism - the religion of death, accepting it as something natural, but requiring destruction. This pagan faith is characterized by sacrificial offerings with an abundance of blood. But, along with this, faith in the light lived in Roerich. This is evidenced by his paintings, which have become Russian property, a legacy passed on to brilliant artist great country.

Roerich Nicholas Konstantinovich (1874 - 1947)

Nicholas Konstantinovich Roerich belongs to the galaxy of outstanding figures of Russian and world culture. An artist, a scientist, a traveler, a public figure, a writer, a thinker - his multifaceted talent is comparable in size only to the titans of the Renaissance. Creative heritage of N.K. Roerich is huge - more than seven thousand paintings scattered around the world, countless literary works- books, essays, articles, diaries...

Nicholas Konstantinovich Roerich was born on October 9, 1874 in St. Petersburg in the family of the famous notary Konstantin Fedorovich Roerich.

Since childhood, he was attracted by painting, archeology, history and, above all, the richest cultural heritage of the East. All this, merged together, later gave an amazing result and made the work of Nikolai Konstantinovich unique and bright.

After graduating from the Karl May gymnasium in 1893, Nicholas Roerich simultaneously entered the law faculty of St. Petersburg University (graduating in 1898) and the Imperial Academy of Arts. Since 1895 he has been studying in the studio of the famous Arkhip Ivanovich Kuindzhi. At this time, he closely communicates with famous cultural figures of that time - V.V. Stasov, I.E. Repin, N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov, D.V. Grigorovich, S.P. Diaghilev.

In 1897 N.K. Roerich graduated from the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts and his diploma painting "Messenger" was acquired by the famous collector of Russian art P.M. Tretyakov.

Already at the age of 24, Nikolai Konstantinovich became assistant director of the Museum of the Imperial Society for the Encouragement of the Arts and at the same time assistant editor of the art magazine "World of Art".

In 1899, he met Elena Ivanovna Shaposhnikova, who became his faithful companion and spiritual companion for the rest of his life. The unity of views and deep mutual sympathy very quickly grew into strong and reverent feelings, and in October 1901 the young people got married. All their lives they will go hand in hand, creatively and spiritually complementing each other. Elena Ivanovna will share all the aspirations and undertakings of Nikolai Konstantinovich. In 1902, their son Yuri, a future orientalist, will be born to them, and in 1904, Svyatoslav, who will choose the same path as his father.

In his books, N.K. Roerich called Elena Ivanovna "inspirer" and "friend." He showed her first each new picture and highly appreciated her artistic intuition and discriminating taste. Many of the artist's canvases were created on the basis of Elena Ivanovna's images, thoughts and creative insights. But her ideas were not only in his paintings - it is difficult to name at least one area in the activities of N.K. Roerich, wherever they are. Behind every creative action of Nikolai Konstantinovich, behind his poems and fairy tales, behind his paintings and trips, Elena Ivanovna will always stand. According to S.N. Roerich: “Cooperation between Nikolai K[onstantinovich] and E[lena] I[vanovna] was the rarest combination of full-sounding sound on all planes. Complementing each other, they seemed to merge in the richest harmony of intellectual and spiritual expression.

In 1903 - 1904. N.K. Roerich and his wife make a trip to the ancient Russian cities of Russia. They visited more than 40 cities known for their ancient monuments. The purpose of this "trip through the old days" was to study the roots of Russian culture. The result of the trip was not only a large series of paintings by the artist, but also the first articles by N.K. Roerich, in which he was one of the first to raise the question of the enormous artistic value of ancient Russian icon painting and architecture.

The same period includes the artist's works on religious themes, executed in the form of murals and sketches of mosaics for Russian churches.

The many-sided talent of Nicholas Konstantinovich Roerich was clearly manifested in his works for theatrical productions. During the famous "Russian Seasons" by S. Diaghilev in the design of N.K. Roerich's performances included "Polovtsian Dances" from "Prince Igor" by Borodin, "The Maid of Pskov" by Rimsky-Korsakov, and the ballet "The Rite of Spring" to music by Stravinsky. Thanks to Elena Ivanovna, Nikolai Konstantinovich got acquainted with the works of the outstanding thinkers of India - Ramakrishna and Vivekananda, with the literary work of R. Tagore, together they studied the Upanishads.

Acquaintance with the philosophical thought of the East was reflected in the work of N.K. Roerich. If in the early paintings of the artist the defining subjects were ancient pagan Rus', colorful images folk epic, the primordial grandeur of the still untouched natural elements (“The city is being built”, “Idols”, “Overseas guests”, etc.), then since the mid-1900s the theme of India and the East has been increasingly heard on his canvases and in literary works.

In 1916, due to a severe lung disease, N.K. Roerich, at the insistence of doctors, moves with his family to Finland (Serdobol), on the coast of Lake Ladoga. Proximity to Petrograd made it possible from time to time to travel to the city on the Neva and engage in the affairs of the School of the Society for the Encouragement of the Arts. However, after the revolutionary events of 1917, Finland closed its borders with Russia and N.K. Roerich and his family were cut off from their homeland.

In 1919, having received an invitation from Sweden, Nikolai Konstantinovich traveled with exhibitions to the countries of Scandinavia, and in the autumn of that year he accepted the invitation of S.P. Diaghilev to arrange Russian operas in London to the music of M.P. Mussorgsky and A.P. Borodin and leaves with his family for England.

In 1920 N.K. Roerich receives an offer from the director of the Art Institute of Chicago to organize a large exhibition tour of 30 cities in the United States. Nikolai Konstantinovich accepts this invitation and leaves London with his family.

N.K. Roerich was one of those few thinkers of the 20th century who deeply understood the true meaning of Culture, its decisive role in the development of mankind. “Culture rests on Beauty and Knowledge,” he wrote. And he repeated Dostoevsky's well-known phrase with a slight correction: "The awareness of Beauty will save the world." This formulation contains almost the entire meaning of cosmic evolution, which goes from chaos to order, from simple to complex, from system to Beauty. Beauty is known by a person only through Culture, an integral part of which is creativity. This was also mentioned in the books of Living Ethics, the direct participation in the creation of which was taken by the Roerichs. Elena Ivanovna wrote down, and Nikolai Konstantinovich perpetuated the cosmic ideas of the Living Ethics in beautiful artistic images.

Implementing these ideas, N.K. Roerich launched a broad cultural and educational activity in America. In November 1921, the Master Institute of United Arts opened in New York, the main goal of which was to bring peoples together through culture and art. Almost simultaneously with him, the association of artists “Cor Ardens” (“Flaming Hearts”) was established in Chicago, and in 1922 the International Cultural Center “Corona Mundi” (“Crown of the World”) was established. In November 1923, the New York Museum of Nicholas Roerich opened its doors, containing a rich collection of paintings by the artist. The institutions founded by Nicholas Konstantinovich Roerich became major centers of culture in America, uniting many prominent artists around themselves.

Then, in 1923, the cherished dream of the master comes true - on December 2, N.K. Roerich and his family arrive in India. Here begins preparations for the most important journey in the life of a great artist - an expedition to remote areas of Central Asia. These areas have long attracted the attention of N.K. Roerich not only as an artist, but also as a scientist who was interested in a number of problems related to the world migrations of ancient peoples and the search for a common source of Slavic and Indian cultures. In addition to purely scientific goals, the expedition carried an important evolutionary task. The most difficult route of the expedition passed through Sikkim, Kashmir, Ladakh, China (Xinjiang), Russia (with a stop in Moscow), Siberia, Altai, Mongolia, Tibet, through the unexplored regions of the Trans-Himalayas. The significance and results of this unique expedition have not yet been duly appreciated by modern geographical science. Meanwhile, having realized the dream of Przhevalsky and Kozlov, the expedition of Nicholas Konstantinovich Roerich was a triumph of Russian exploration of Central Asia. Due to the uniqueness of the route and the collected materials, it can rightfully claim a special place among the largest expeditions of the 20th century. The journey lasted from March 1925 to May 1928. For the first time, dozens of new mountain peaks and passes were marked on the maps, archaeological sites found rare manuscripts. Huge scientific material was collected, books were written (“Heart of Asia”, “Altai - Himalayas”), about five hundred paintings were created, in which the artist immortalized the world of special and amazing, the world of high beauty.

At the end of the expedition in July 1928, N.K. Roerich founded the Urusvati Himalayan Research Institute, which in Sanskrit means "Light of the Morning Star". There, in the Kullu Valley, in the Western Himalayas, Nikolai Konstantinovich and his family find their home. Here, in India, the last period of the artist's life will pass.

In 1934 - 1935, Nicholas Roerich led an expedition to the regions of Inner Mongolia, Manchuria and China, organized by the US Department of Agriculture to study drought-resistant plants. At the time when he was on the expedition, the president of the New York Museum of Nicholas Roerich and confidant N.K. Roerich, American businessman Louis Horsch, having forged documents and slandered his Teacher, illegally seizes a block of shares owned by the Museum and declares himself its owner. He secretly exports paintings, some of which he keeps for himself. Most of the paintings were auctioned off and still adorn the private collections of American collectors. After some time, employees devoted to the Roerichs purchased a new building for the Museum and bought out a significant part of the paintings.

N.K. Roerich continues his international cultural activities. In his philosophical and artistic essays, he creates a completely new concept of Culture, based on the ideas of Living Ethics. Culture, according to N.K. Roerich, is closely connected with the problems of the cosmic evolution of mankind and is the "greatest pillar" of this process.

In the broad concept of Culture N.K. Roerich included a synthesis of the best achievements of the human spirit in the field of religious experience, science, art, and education. It was Nicholas Roerich who first formulated the fundamental difference between Culture and civilization. If Culture is related to the spiritual world of a person in his creative self-expression, then civilization is only the external arrangement of human life in all its material, civil aspects. The identification of civilization and Culture, Nikolai Konstantinovich argued, leads to a confusion of these concepts, to an underestimation of the spiritual factor in the development of mankind. “Wealth in itself does not give Culture. But the expansion and refinement of thinking and the feeling of Beauty give that refinement, that nobility of spirit, which distinguishes a cultured person. It is he who can build a bright future for his country.” Proceeding from this, humanity must not only develop Culture, but must also protect it.

In the 1930s, anticipating the impending threat of war, N.K. Roerich is developing a draft of a special Pact for the protection of cultural property during wars and civil strife. The Roerich Pact contained a great educational value. “The Pact for the Protection of Cultural Treasures is needed not only as an official body, but as an educational law that, from the first school days, will educate the younger generation with noble ideas about preserving the true values ​​of all mankind.” This cultural initiative was supported by the widest circles of the world community. The idea of ​​the artist was welcomed by R. Rolland, B. Shaw, R. Tagore, A. Einstein. The signing of the Pact took place on April 15, 1935 at the White House in Washington. Initially, the document was ratified by 21 countries of the American continent. Subsequently, in 1954, the Roerich Pact formed the basis of the Hague "International Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict", and proposed by N.K. Roerich, a special flag, the Banner of Peace, declaring all the treasures of culture and art as an object of inviolability, and to this day flutters over many cultural and educational institutions around the world.

From the very first days of World War II, Nicholas Konstantinovich Roerich used every opportunity to help the Motherland, even being far from it. Together with the youngest son S.N. Roerich, he arranges exhibitions and the sale of paintings, and transfers all the proceeds to the Red Army fund. Numerous articles are written in newspapers, radio speeches are made in support of the Soviet people. There is not a single note of despondency and confusion. Even in the most critical days of the war, there is only confidence in the victory of the Russian people: “We argued with many connecting rods who doubted. False prophets predicted all sorts of troubles, but we always said: “Moscow will stand!”, “Leningrad will stand!”, “Stalingrad will stand!”. Here they stood! The invincible Russian army has grown to the marvel of the whole world! ”, Nikolai Konstantinovich wrote in the article“ Glory ”in 1943.

In these terrible years for Russia, the artist again turns to the theme of his native land in his work. During this period, he creates a number of paintings - "Prince Igor", "Alexander Nevsky", "Partisans", "Victory", in which, using images of Russian history, he predicts the victory of the Russian people over fascism.

In St. Petersburg, in the family of a famous lawyer, who belonged to a Russified Danish-Norwegian family, who settled in Russia in the early 18th century.

Nikolai read a lot as a child, was fond of history. In 1891, a family friend, sculptor Mikhail Mikeshin, drew attention to Roerich's artistic abilities and penchant for drawing and became the future artist's first teacher.

In 1893, Roerich graduated from the private Karl May Gymnasium, where Alexander Benois, Konstantin Somov, Dmitry Filosofov studied with him, and at the same time entered the Academy of Arts and the Faculty of Law of St. Petersburg University, where he simultaneously attended lectures at the Faculty of History.

At the Academy of Arts from 1895, Roerich studied in the workshop of Arkhip Kuindzhi, who had a great influence on him. At this time, he closely communicated with the artist and music critic Vladimir Stasov, composers Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Alexander Glazunov, Anatoly Lyadov, Anton Arensky, artist Ilya Repin and others.

Already in his student years, Roerich became a member of the Russian Archaeological Society, carried out excavations in the St. Petersburg, Pskov, Novgorod, Tver, Yaroslavl, Smolensk provinces. In archaeological expeditions, he recorded folklore.

In 1897 he graduated from the Academy of Arts, in 1898 - from the university, and became deputy editor-in-chief of the magazine of the Imperial Society for the Encouragement of Arts "Art and Art Industry".

In 1900, Roerich studied in Paris in the studios of the artists Pierre Puvis de Chavannes and Fernand Cormon. In 1901 he received the position of secretary of the Society for the Encouragement of Arts, since 1906 - director of the Art School of the Society for the Encouragement of Arts. In 1909 he became a member of the Russian Academy of Arts, in 1910 he was elected chairman of the Russian art association "World of Art".

In 1900-1910, Roerich was one of the founders and most active figures of the Society for the Revival of Artistic Rus', the Society for the Protection and Preservation of Monuments of Art and Antiquity in Russia, as well as many other organizations.

As an archaeologist, Nicholas Roerich in the summer of 1902, during excavations of mounds on Lake Piros, discovered hundreds of figured amber jewelry, testifying to the high artistic culture of the Neolithic period in the Novgorod and Tver provinces. In the summer of 1910, he discovered the remains of the Kremlin and urban development of Ancient Novgorod, which laid the foundation for subsequent work.

As an artist, Roerich worked in the field of easel, monumental (frescoes, mosaics) and theatrical and decorative painting. In 1903-1904, he undertook a journey through more than forty ancient Russian cities, during which he created a series of studies depicting the architectural monuments of Rus'. In 1906, he created 12 sketches for a church in the Golubev estate in Parkhomovka near Kiev, sketches for mosaics for the Pochaev Lavra (1910), four sketches for painting a chapel in Pskov (1913), 12 panels for the Livshits villa in Nice (1914). He decorated the Church of the Holy Spirit in Talashkino near Smolensk (1911-1914), made the panels "Battle at Kerzhents" and "Conquest of Kazan" for the Kazansky railway station in Moscow (1915-1916).

Since 1905, the artist worked on the design of opera, ballet and drama productions: The Snow Maiden, Peer Gynt, Princess Malene, Valkyrie, etc. During the famous Russian Seasons by Sergei Diaghilev in Paris, in the design Nicholas Roerich were "Polovtsian Dances" from "Prince Igor" by Alexander Borodin, "Pskovite" by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, the ballet "The Rite of Spring" to the music of Igor Stravinsky, where Roerich was also a co-author of the libretto.

Roerich also acted as a master of book and magazine graphics, designing, in particular, the publication of Maurice Maeterlinck's plays (1909).

From 1918, Nicholas Roerich lived abroad: in the early 1920s, mainly in the United States; since 1923, intermittently, and since 1936, constantly - in India.

In 1920-1922 in New York, he created the Institute of United Arts and other cultural and educational associations. In 1923, the Roerich Museum (Nicolas Roerich Museum) was opened in New York, which became the first museum of a Russian artist abroad.

In 1923-1928, Nicholas Roerich undertook an unprecedented scientific and artistic expedition through the Himalayas, Tibet, Altai and Mongolia, and in 1934-1935 through Manchuria and China.

In 1928, the Himalayan Institute of Scientific Research "Urusvati" was established in India. In 1931-1933, as part of the work of the institute, Roerich conducted a number of ethnographic and botanical expeditions to the regions of the Himalayas bordering the Kullu Valley.

The main theme of Roerich's artistic work in the 1920s-1940s was the East. The artist created the "Teachers of the East" series, a series dedicated to the images of women ("Mother of the World"), nature, ancient cultural monuments and legends of the Himalayas, etc. Philosophical searches came to the fore in his art. In total, Nicholas Roerich created over 7,000 paintings, combined into thematic cycles and series.

The literary heritage of Roerich is rich. He is the author of a collection of poems "Flowers of Moria" (1921), prose books of an essay and diary nature "Ways of Blessing" (1924), "Fiery Stronghold" (1932), "Indestructible" (1936), "Altai-Himalayas", "Heart of Asia "and" Shambhala "(1927-1930), etc.

Spiritual teaching, proclaimed by Nicholas Roerich and his wife Elena, is called Agni Yoga (or "Living Ethics"). It is based on the idea of ​​the natural evolution of the Cosmos, the organic component of which is the evolution of man and all mankind as a whole. The meaning of human evolution is spiritual enlightenment and spiritual perfection. The most important factor in the manifestation and creative growth of the human spirit on Earth is culture. Therefore, the preservation and promotion of the spiritual values ​​of culture is the most important task of the earthly community.

In 1929, Nicholas Roerich addressed the world community with an initiative to conclude an international legal pact on the protection of cultural property in armed conflicts. In 1935, the United States and 20 countries of Latin America signed the Treaty on the Protection of Artistic and Scientific Institutions and Historical Monuments, known as the Roerich Pact. Based on this document, the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict was adopted in 1954.

Nicholas Roerich - the great Russian artist, writer, archaeologist, philosopher, traveler and public figure - was born in St. Petersburg October 9, 1874.(December 13, 1947 - Day of departure).

The life of N.K. Roerich was an uninterrupted stream of giving and service.

Nikolai Konstantinovich was amazingly able to organize his time without wasting a single minute in vain. He did not have a single superfluous movement, his speech was friendly, but stingy and laconic.

Svyatoslav Nikolaevich Roerich recalls: “There was a balanced harmony in all his movements. He was never in a hurry, and yet his productivity was amazing. When he drew or wrote, he did so with calm deliberation. When he wrote... he never corrected or changed his sentences, least of all his thoughts. It was a constant progressive striving towards a certain definite goal, and this can be said about his whole life.

When getting acquainted with the spiritual teachings of the East, Roerich comes to an understanding of the unity of the foundations for true spiritual Teachings. He liked to repeat: "The best roses of East and West are equally fragrant." He wrote: “I am not belittling either the West or the South, or the North or the East, for in essence these divisions do not exist. The whole world is divided only in our minds. But if this consciousness is enlightened, then the torch of fiery union is kindled in it, and truly we will not break the fiery enthusiasm.” (N.K. Roerich. Power of Light)

“Lighting the lamps of the spirit, is it not wonderful to realize that in other countries the same lamps sparkle”.(N.K. Roerich. Power of Light)

“The Light is one, and the gates to it are truly international…” (N.K. Roerich. Power of Light)

The culmination of all spiritual aspirations of N.K. Roerich was his expedition, in his words, to the Heart of Asia.

This expedition had hidden meaning , which was associated with a special planetary mission that the Roerichs were called to carry out.

The mission was to give a shift to the consciousness of mankind, to help him rise to a new stage of spiritual evolution through the acquisition true understanding the foundations of life, through familiarization with the Cosmic Knowledge and Beauty, which comprise the Teaching of Life - Living Ethics, or Agni Yoga.

Roerich was to become a herald of Culture and Peace in their updated understanding, as a herald of the spiritual foundations of life.

Nicholas Roerich was initiated into the very depths of spiritual knowledge. He personally knew Those Who gave humanity this Knowledge. But “the more knowledge, the more difficult it is to recognize its bearer. He knows how to protect the Inexpressible, (The Brotherhood, 562), However, N.K. Roerich was easy to use and never demonstrated his knowledge.

After returning from the Trans-Himalayan expedition, Roerich's activity acquires special intensity and significance. Standing in front of him high goal, which was expressed in a brief fiery appeal - « Peace through Culture».

He speaks to huge audiences in various cities of Europe and America with lectures on science, art, philosophy, writes numerous articles and books, maintains ties with many progressive scientists and organizations.

A special place in all its activities is occupied by cultural issues, as a spiritual and universal phenomenon.

Roerich reveals the concept of Culture in a completely new way. He's writing: " …Culture It has two root- the first druidic, the second eastern. Cult-Ur means Worship of the Light." (N.K. Roerich. Power of Light)

The JE emphasizes the special significance of works of art in dark times of crisis. The book Aboveground, 122 says: “The forces of darkness are well aware of how many powerful emanations art objects radiate. Among the onslaughts of darkness, such emanations can be the best weapon. The forces of darkness seek to either destroy works of art, or at least divert the attention of humanity from them.. It must be remembered that a rejected, neglected work cannot radiate its beneficent energy. There will be no living connection between a cold viewer or listener and a closed creation ...This is how each work lives and contributes to the exchange and accumulation of energy.”

A deep awareness of the value of Culture and art led N.K. to the idea of ​​the need to protect them in the face of impending chaos and the danger of the collapse of human civilization. This is how it's born Pact for the Protection of Cultural Property in Time of War.

The idea of ​​the Roerich Pact aroused ardent support from many states, outstanding figures of science and art, and the public.

On April 15, 1935, in New York, the Peace Pact was signed by US President Roosevelt and representatives of all countries of South America.

Roerich said that only awareness of culture and its introduction into all areas of human life will give the way to peace and harmony among peoples, will provide the basis that can unite people in their noblest aspirations.

The Teaching of Living Ethics says: "To New Russia is My first message." (Leaves of Morya's Garden. Call. Preface)

Light New Russia carried N.K. Roerich to all countries of the world, giving other nations the opportunity to get closer to the Teaching New Age, not accidentally given in Russian.

The life of N.K. Roerich was a Great Service that never stopped.

Helena Roerich wrote: "... The Guru does not have a single personal thought, everything is resolutely directed and given to the service of the Common Good." (Letters of H.I. Roerich. 12/17/1930)

During his life, Nicholas Roerich wrote from above seven thousand beautiful and unique paintings. The artist's paintings are crystals of condensed Light, with which the creations of his hands are saturated, which is why they produce a beneficial effect on those who perceive them.

Roerich's paintings elevate the spirit, teach to see the beauty of the Universe, in addition, they carry healing properties.

“... The exhibition of his paintings gathered tens of thousands and raised their vibrations above them in an enthusiastic perception of the wonderful colors and Images that are close to them. Many retained for a long time the memory of this miraculous upsurge of their senses. How much good has been shed by such influences. Who knows how many people have gone cured of an incipient evil illness, having forgotten about a grave offense or a bad intention - under the influence of new vibrations, new thoughts. (H.I. Roerich. 04/09/1948)

Once the famous biologist Boshe demonstrated to N.K. Roerich the process of plant dying: "Now I will give poison to this lily, and you will see how she shudders and droops,"- he said. But instead of drooping, the lily rose even higher. The scientist exclaimed: “For a long time I foresaw that the emanations of certain strong energies should influence the surrounding physiological processes. You are preventing the death of the plant, move away." And indeed, when Roerich departed, the life of the plant ceased. The fertile energy emanating from the great humanist artist neutralized the effect of the poison on the plant.

“There are no miracles in the world!THERE IS ONLY THIS DEGREE OF KNOWLEDGE.” ( Mahatma)

N.K. Roerich, an artist who created over 7,000 paintings, a thinker and public figure, a research scientist, a philosopher, an outstanding fighter for peace on earth, a fighter for Culture ...

This far from complete list of definitives characterizes the activities of Nicholas Konstantinovich Roerich, who left such a cultural heritage to the world, which we will have to comprehend for more than one century.

Many volumes of research have already been written about each of the aspects of his multifaceted activity. Today we will emphasize the main thing.

For the first time in the history of mankind, a call was made from the lips of a Russian artist who absorbed the full force of Russian culture: "Peace through Culture". This call becomes the slogan of the coming New Age.

Roerich believed that the dome of Culture should cover everything - any sphere of human activity.

Only through culture possible solution to the most burning problems of mankind, in other words, this key concept is the only condition that can be used as the basis for the purification and transformation of life on earth.

We all must realize that culture today is a decisive moment, a lifeline in the revival of the old principles of morality.

It is impossible to transform society overnight, directing it towards spiritual landmarks. Drop by drop, there is a long and hard work to be done, which must begin with oneself.

Life and work of the great Master

"Life is always bright. Better than life itself, you still can't invent anything!"

Biography of Nicholas Konstantinovich in audio format, prepared by the Siberian Roerich Society:

Russian period

The ancient Scandinavian family of the Roerichs settled in Russia under Peter I and gave the Russian state a lot of statesmen and military figures.By the way, the name Roerich in some articles is written like this - Ryorich. But given our already long-standing trends in Russian grammar, when we write the word “tree” as “tree”, it is possible that such a substitution of the letter has occurred in Roerich's surname over the years.

His father - Konstantin Fedorovich - was a famous notary and public figure. Mother - Maria Vasilievna Kalashnikova, came from a merchant family.

In January 1860, the first train came to Ostrov along the Petersburg-Warsaw road under construction. This led to the acquaintancedraftsman (and future notary)The Main Society of Russian Railways Konstantin Roerich and Maria Kalashnikova. They got married on October 16, 1860 at the Trinity Cathedral in the city of Ostrov.

The owner's wife "knew how to create an atmosphere of cordiality and friendliness." The main concerns of Maria Vasilievna were connected with the family and the upbringing of children. Parents brought them up, as was customary for all the master's children of St. Petersburg, from an early age they took them to the theater and to concerts.

In the name of Maria Vasilievna, the Izvara estate was purchased, where the children were guaranteed rural freedom. The childhood and youth of Nicholas Roerich was associated with the Izvara estate, which was located near the Volosovo station, outside Gatchina. The estate was surrounded by dense forests, not far away was a non-freezing lake with ice springs. There are paintings on the walls in the living room, in front of which little Kolya stood idle for a long time. One struck the imagination: flaming from the setting sunhigh mountains:"... it turned out to be nothing more than Kanchendenga! Where did it come from? How did it get there?" (Kanchenjunga is a mountain range in the Himalayas on the border of India and Nepal).

And another interesting fact: during the time of Catherine II, some Hindu rajah lived near the estate. The name of the estate "Izvara" was attributed to Indian origin, from Sanskrit the word is translated as "The Most High" or "Divine Light".

Nicholas Roerich was born September 27 (October 9, new style), 1874 In Petersburg.

Roerich from childhood was also fond oftheater. They built a stage, bought cut out pictures for plays, but this was not enough, and the boy began to show his own productions: Ondines by Schiller, Aida, Ivanhoe. Candles were lit and colored paper to create lighting effects. Love for literature, and especially for poetry, manifested itself even in the fact that poems, epics, legends, folk tales were recorded and memorized, and already in old age Roerich quoted many of them by memory. But he also composed: "Olga's revenge for the death of Igor", "Igor's Campaign", plays on historical themes, essays about hunting.

At the age of nine, Roerich met a newcomer to Izvaraarchaeologist L. Ivanovsky. The scientist began to excavate in the vicinity of the estate and take the inquisitive boy with him. Subsequently, Roerich, recalling the Izvar barrows, wrote: "Nothing and no wayso close to the feeling of the ancient worldlike a handmade dig."

The Kolya family diligently instilled lofty concepts honor, dignity, goodwill, diligence and responsibility. The question of the meaning of life early began to worry the future artist and thinker.

Nicholas from birth was not distinguished by good health. Weak lungs were especially annoying. Constant colds, bronchitis. After the third grade, the home doctor advised winter and spring hunts to harden the body, where communication with nature, a thirst for new sensations, a desire to show ingenuity, courage, resourcefulness, and ingenuity were in full measure.

Elder sister - Lydia (in the marriage of Ozerov), younger brothers- Vladimir (agrobiologist, teacher) and Boris (architect-artist, teacher) Roerichs. Among the friends of the Roerich family were such prominent figures as the scientist D. Mendeleev, the historian N. Kostomarov and many, many others.

In 1891, a family friend, artist and sculptor M.O. Mikeshin drew attention to his hobbydrawingand began systematic studies with him. Acquaintance with the mosaicist I. Kudrin aroused interest in mosaic work.

In 1893, after graduating from the Karl May gymnasium, Nicholas Roericharrives at the same time Petersburg University (graduating in 1898) and the Imperial Academy of Arts (graduating in 1897). Since 1895 he has beenin the studio of the famous artist Arkhip Ivanovich Kuindzhi . At this time, he closely communicated with famous cultural figures of that time - V. V. Stasov, I. E. Repin, N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov, D. V. Grigorovich, S. P. Diaghilev.

Since 1892, Roerich began to conduct independent archaeological excavations. Already in his student years, he becomesmember of the Russian Archaeological Society . Conducts numerous excavations in St. Petersburg, Pskov, Novgorod, Tver, Yaroslavl, Smolensk provinces,teachesat the St. Petersburg Archaeological Institute (from 1897 to 1903).

Starting in 1904, together with Prince Putyatin, he discovered several Neolithic sites in Valdai (in the vicinity of Lake Piros). Since 1905, Roerich began to collect a collection of Stone Age antiquities. It was presented at the French Prehistoric Congress at Périgueux (1905), where it was highly praised. By 1910, the collection included more than 30 thousand exhibits from Russia, Germany, Italy, and France. In the summer of 1910, Roerich, together with N. E. Makarenko, conducted the first archaeological excavations in Novgorod.

In 1897, N. K. Roerich graduated from the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts. His diploma painting "Messenger" was acquired by the famous collector of Russian art P. M. Tretyakov.

Stasov V.V., a well-known critic of that time, highly appreciated this picture:“You should definitely visit Tolstoy… let the great writer of the Russian land himself make you an artist.” The meeting with Tolstoy for the young Roerich became fateful. Addressing him, Leo Tolstoy said:“Have you ever crossed a fast-moving river in a boat? You must always rule above the place where you need it, otherwise it will blow you away. So in the field of moral requirements, one must always steer higher - life will blow everything away. Let your messenger hold the rudder very high, then he will swim!”

Also, the words of Fr. John of Kronstadt, who often visited the house of Roerich's parents:"Be healthy! You will have to work hard for the Motherland.”

N. K. Roerich works a lot inhistorical genre. In the early period of creativity, he creates canvases: “The Elders Converge” (1898), “Lament of Yaroslavna” (1893), “The Beginning of Rus'. Slavs” (1896), “Idols” (1901), “Building Boats”, etc. These works show the artist's original talent and innovative search in art. "Already in the first picturesa distinctive style emergesRoerich: his all-encompassing approach to composition, clarity of lines and conciseness, purity of color and musicality, great simplicity of expression and truthfulness. The artist's paintings are built on a deep knowledge of historical material, convey a sense of the spirit of the times and are saturated with philosophical content.

At the age of 24, N. K. Roerich becomesmuseum assistant director at the Imperial Society for the Encouragement of ArtsAnd simultaneously assistant editor art magazine "Art and Art Industry". Three years later, he holds the post of secretary of the Imperial Society for the Encouragement of Arts.

In 1899 (at the age of 25) he met in the estate of Prince Putyatinwith Elena Ivanovna Shaposhnikova. In October 1901, their wedding took place. Helena Ivanovna became a faithful companion and inspiration for Nicholas Roerich, they will go hand in hand all their lives, creatively and spiritually complementing each other. In 1902, their son Yuri, a future orientalist, was born to them, and in 1904, Svyatoslav, a future artist and public figure.

In 1903-1904, N. K. Roerich, together with his wife, traveled around Russia,having visited more than 40 cities known for their ancient monuments of antiquity. The purpose of this "trip through the old days" wasstudy of the roots of Russian culture. The result of the trip waslarge architectural series of paintings artist (about 90 sketches) and articles in which Roerich was one of the first to raise the question of the enormous artistic value of ancient Russian icon painting and architecture.

In 1906 he creates 12sketches for the church Intercession of the Mother of God in the Golubev estate in Parkhomovka near Kiev (architect Pokrovsky V. A.), as well as sketches of mosaics for the church in the name of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul at the Shlisselburg powder factories (architect Pokrovsky V. A.), for the Trinity Cathedral of Pochaevskaya laurels (1910), 4 sketches for the painting of the chapel of St. Anastasia at the Olginsky bridge in Pskov (1913), 12 panels for the Livshits villa in Nice (1914). In 1914 he decorated the church of St. Spirit in Talashkino (composition "Queen of Heaven", etc.). Some mosaics, created according to the sketches of Roerich by the workshop of V. A. Frolov, have survived to this day.

The many-sided talent of Nicholas Roerich also manifested itself in hisworks for theatrical performances : "The Snow Maiden", "Peer Gynt", "Princess Malene", "Valkyrie" and others. He was among the leading ideologists and creators of the reconstructive "Old Theater" (1907-1908; 1913-1914) - a noticeable and unique phenomenon in the cultural life of Russia in the first quarter of the 20th century, and N. Roerich participated in this historical and drama event and asthe creator of the scenery, and as an art critic . During the famous “Russian Seasons” by S. Diaghilev in Paris, designed by N. K. Roerich, “Polovtsian Dances” from “Prince Igor” by Borodin, “The Pskovite Woman” by Rimsky-Korsakov, the ballet “The Rite of Spring” to the music of Stravinsky took place.

The era of the Silver Age, in which N. K. Roerich began his career, was an era of spiritual upsurge, which undoubtedly had an impact on the formation of the artist's personality. A galaxy of outstanding thinkers: V. S. Solovyov, E. N. Trubetskoy, V. V. Rozanov, P. A. Florensky, S. N. Bulgakov, N. A. Berdyaev and others introduced deep philosophical thought into Russian culture, saturate her with an intense search for the meaning of life and moral ideals. The Russian intelligentsia showed particular interest in the culture of the East. In search of values ​​that have universal significance, N. K. Roerich, in addition to Russian philosophy, alsostudied philosophy of the East , the works of the outstanding thinkers of India - Ramakrishna and Vivekananda, the work of Rabindranath Tagore.

Acquaintance with the philosophical thought of the East was reflected in the work of N. K. Roerich. If in the early paintings of the artist the defining plots were ancient pagan Rus', colorful images of the folk epic (“The city is being built”, “Sinister”, “Overseas guests”, etc.), thenalready from the middle of 1905 many of his paintings and essays were devoted to India(“Lakshmi”, “Indian Way”, “Krishna”, “Dreams of India”, etc.). Ancient cultures of Russia and India,their common source , interest Roerich as an artist and as a scientist. In his historical concept, the ratio of time categories of the past, present and future is of the utmost importance. He measures the past and present by the future:“... when we call to study the past, we will do it only for the sake of the future” . “From the ancient wonderful stones lay down the steps of the future” .

From 1906 to 1918 Nicholas Roerich wasschool director of the Imperial Society for the Encouragement of Arts, at the same timeteaching work . Having accepted the appointment, he enthusiastically set to work: expanding the territory of the school, opening new departments and classes, restoring the rights of the pedagogical council, creating at the SchoolMuseum of Russian Art , dreams of reorganizing the OPH School into the Free People's Academy, or the School of Arts. A number of workshops are organized at the school. Includingicon-paintingled by the famous icon painter Tyulin. AtRoerich, the number of women's classes increased, A female etude class was created. Were created: senior department, graphics class, lithographic workshop, medal class, sketch discussion class. Lectures on anatomy, ancient Russian art and architecture were introduced. Since 1914 began choir lessonsunder the leadership of S.S. Mitusov. There were also changes in the curricula: in the natural class, the time for staging nature was reduced, the copy method of teaching was eliminated, and training in working with glue paints was restored for the training of decorators. A peculiar report of the semi-annual activity of the icon-painting workshop was the act of presenting to Emperor Nicholas II on December 6, 1909, an icon made by students.

Since 1906 the artist has been constantlyparticipates in foreign exhibitions . Get to know his workParis, Venice, Berlin, Rome, Brussels, Vienna, London. Roerich's paintings were acquired by the Roman National Museum, the Louvre and other European museums.

Since about 1906, it has been celebratednew, more mature period in the work of Roerich. His approach to historical theme: history, mythology, folklore turn into sources from which the artist draws material for a metaphorical pictorial language. His art combinesrealism and symbolism . During this period, the search for a master in the field of color intensifies. He almost gives up butter and goes totempera technique . A lot of experimenting with paint composition, uses the method of superimposing one colorful tone on another. The originality and originality of the artist's art was noted by art criticism. In Russia and Europe during the period from 1907 to 1918, nine monographs and several dozen art magazines dedicated to Roerich's work were published. Leonid Andreev figuratively called the world created by the artist - "Roerich's Power".

In 1909 N. K. Roerich was electedAcademician of the Russian Academy of Arts and member of the Reims Academy in France.

Since 1910 he heads the art association "World of Art" , whose members were A. Benois, L. Bakst, I. Grabar, V. Serov, K. Petrov-Vodkin, B. Kustodiev, A. Ostroumova-Lebedeva and others.

"The greatest intuitionist of the century", according to A.M. Gorky, N. K. Roerich in symbolic images expressed his disturbing forebodings on the eve of the First World War: the paintings “The Most Pure City - Anger to the Enemies”, “The Last Angel”, “Glow”, “Human Affairs”, etc. They show the themethe struggle of two principles - light and darknesspassing through all the work of the artist, as well as the responsibility of a person for his own destiny and the whole world. Nicholas Roerich not onlycreates anti-war pictures, but also writes articles, dedicated to the protection of peace and culture.

In 1915, N. K. Roerich made a report to Emperor Nicholas II and Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich (the younger) with a call to acceptserious state measures for the national protection of cultural treasures.

In 1916, due to a serious lung disease, N. K. Roerich, at the insistence of doctors, moved with his family to Finland (Serdobol), on the coast of Lake Ladoga. Proximity to Petrograd made it possible to run the School of the Society for the Encouragement of Arts.

On March 4, 1917, a month after the February Revolution, Maxim Gorky gathered a large group of artists, writers and artists in his apartment. Among those present were Roerich, Alexander Benois, Bilibin, Dobuzhinsky, Petrov-Vodkin, Shchuko, Chaliapin. elected at the meetingArts Commission. M. Gorky was appointed its chairman, A. Benois and N. Roerich were appointed assistants to the chairman. The commission dealt with the development of art in Russia and the preservation of ancient monuments.

Cultural and educational activities in Europe and America

After the revolutionary events of 1917, Finland closed its borders with Russia, and Nicholas Roerich and his family found themselves cut off from their homeland.

In 1919, having received an invitation from Sweden, Nicholas Roerichtravels with exhibitions in Scandinavian countries . Travels to London the same year. hoping to go to India.

Together with my wife enters the Theosophical Society founded by H. P. Blavatsky . In the autumn of the same year, at the invitation of S. P. Diaghilev, he designed Russian operas in London to the music of M. P. Mussorgsky and A.P. Borodin.

In 1920, N. K. Roerich received an offer from the director of the Art Institute of Chicago to organizelarge exhibition tour of 30 US cities . Among the 115 canvases of the artist were exhibited: "The Treasure of Angels" (1905), "The Last Angel" (1912), "Viking's Daughter" (1917), "Call of the Sun" (1918), "Ecstasy" (1917), series "Heroics" and "Dreams of the East" and others. The exhibitions were a great success. In America, Roerich painted a series of paintings "Sankta" (Saints), "New Mexico", "Ocean Suite", "Dreams of Wisdom", etc.

In America, Roerich earned a reputation as a visionary, guru, and opponent of war.

With the help of charitable funds,cultural and educational organizations .

In November 1921, New York openedMaster Institute of United Arts , the main purpose of which was the rapprochement of peoples through culture and art. Defining the tasks of the Institute, Roerich wrote:

“Art will unite humanity. Art is one and indivisible. Art has many branches, but the root is one... Everyone feels the truth of beauty. The gates of the sacred spring must be opened to all. The light of art will illuminate countless hearts with new love. At first, this feeling will come unconsciously, but after that it will purify the entire human consciousness. How many young hearts are looking for something beautiful and true. Give it to them. Give art to the people where it belongs.”

Almost simultaneously with the United Arts Institute in Chicago, there wasthe association of artists "Cor Ardens" ("Flaming Hearts") was founded , and in 1922 aroseInternational Cultural Center "Corona Mundi" ("Crown of the World") .

In November 1923 Nicholas Roerich Museum in New York opens , containing a large collection of paintings by the artist (see below).

Spiritual sessions. "Automatic Writing"

In the secular environment of St. Petersburg, a passion for spiritualism was widespread, andsince 1900, Nicholas Roerich participated in spiritualistic experiments . Since the spring of 1920, seances have been held in the Roerichs' house, to which friends and high-ranking dignitaries have been invited. The method of "automatic writing" was mastered.

Direct records by automatic writing were made mainly by N. K. Roerich, and partly by his son Yuri. That. a series of pencil portraits was created, which depict Eastern Teachers - Buddha, Lao Tzu, Sister Oriola, Allal-Ming and others. According to E. I. Roerich, her husband’s article “On the freedom of movement of objects of art” (1924) was “given” by automatic writing.

Here is how V. A. Shibaev (later Roerich’s secretary) describes their first joint seance:“I was invited to the artist academician N. K. Roerich on the evening of June 2, 1920 and, as usual, sat with his son in the latter’s room, talking about various scientific topics. I did not know that nearby Nikolai Konstantinovich and his wife, together with their youngest son, were engaged in spiritualistic experiments. I also didn't know that they were asking their leaders to let me join the circle. But having secured a positive response, I was asked to come in and sit down at a table. There was full light in the room, and I clearly saw that there was no possibility of deceit. The table trembled nervously and jumped up, and when they asked him who it was (there was a conditional knock: once - yes; twice - no; three times - reinforced yes), whether it was the Teacher, the table jumped up and hit once. Then there was a sequential message of letters. Namely, one of those present called the alphabet in continuous order, and when the letter was pronounced, a knock followed. So several phrases were collected.

About spiritualistic seances of the Roerichs is also known from their intra-family correspondence and diary entries.During spiritualistic seances of "table-turning", which were not an end in themselves, the Roerichs triedestablish contact with the Teachers (Mahatmas)what, according to them, they managed to dofrom the second half of 1921. Later, the Roerichs began to forbid their entourage from using spiritualistic sessions, and the Roerich family no longer needed the help of the table to introduce their "interlocutors" and to "hear" them.

Roerich himself did not consider himself a spiritualist and mystic, arguing that the desire to "know the subtlest energies" is not mysticism, but the search for truth.

Merging Buddhism with Communism. "Mahatma Lenin"

After the October Revolution, Roerich stood in open opposition to the Soviet regime, wrote accusatory articles in the émigré press. Howeversoon his views suddenly changed, and the Bolsheviks found themselves in the category of Roerich's ideological allies.In the autumn of 1924, he left America for Europe. , where he visited the USSR representation in Berlin, met with Plenipotentiary N. N. Krestinsky and then with his assistant G. A. Astakhov.

The ideological closeness to communism manifested itself among the Roerichs in literature.The Mongolian edition of The Community (1926), one of the books of Agni Yoga, contained frequent references to Lenin and drew parallels between the communist community and the Buddhist one.In fact, it gave instructions to the Soviet government on the need to immediately implement the reforms initiated by Lenin (which was not done). Later, a "universal" version of the book was published (2nd edition, Riga, 1936) - without mentioning the names of Lenin and Marx, and the word "commune" was replaced by the word "community". For example, in paragraph 64 of the "Communities" of 1936, the words that were in the 1926 edition no longer exist:“Take the appearance of Lenin as a sign of the sensitivity of the Cosmos” .

In Hotan (southeast Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region China) the Roerichs had a famousa letter from the Mahatmas to be handed over to the Soviet government and a casket with Himalayan earth on the grave of "Mahatma Lenin" . Roerich handed over all the gifts personally to People's Commissar Chicherin in June 1926, and he transferred them to the Lenin Institute. Also in Khotan, on October 5, 1925, the artist conceived the painting "Lenin's Mountain", which is now stored in the Nizhny Novgorod Museum of Fine Arts. The picture clearly shows the easily recognizable image of Lenin. Later, Roerich renamed the painting "The Phenomenon of the Term", but in Moscow it appeared under its original name, about which Roerich wrote in his own hand: "Lenin's Mountain".Mount Lenin rises like a cone between two wings of a white ridge.Lama whispers: "Lenin was not against true Buddhism" - from the manuscript of the expeditionary diary of N. K. Roerich "Altai-Himalayas", preserved in the archive of the Foreign Policy of the Russian Federation (Moscow), entry dated 02.10.1925.

Roerich handed over the paintings of the Maitreya series to the People’s Commissar of Education A. V. Lunacharsky, which were not accepted by any Soviet museum, since the art commission considered them non-communist and decadent, and they hung for a long time in A. M. Gorky’s dacha.

Central Asian expedition 1924-1928

The events of the first Central Asian expedition were reflected in the diaries of N. K. Roerich "Altai-Himalayas" and Yu. » Expeditions to Lhasa (Ryabinin, Portnyagin, Kordashevsky). There are also a number of declassified documents of Soviet, British and German intelligence about the activities of the Roerichs during the expedition.

December 2, 1923 N. K. Roerich with his family arrives from America to India. The route of the expedition passed through Sikkim, Kashmir, Ladakh, China (Xinjiang), Russia (with a stop in Moscow), Siberia, Altai, Mongolia, Tibet, through the unexplored regions of the Trans-Himalayas. The expedition continuedfrom 1924 to 1928year. Officially, the expedition was announced as American.

During the expedition were carried outarchaeological and ethnographic research in unexplored parts of Asia, foundrare manuscripts , collected linguistic materials , works folklore, descriptions are madelocal customs, written books("Heart of Asia", "Altai - Himalayas"), created aroundfive hundred paintings, on which the artist depicted a picturesque panorama of the expedition route, a series of paintings "The Himalayas" was started, the series "Maitreya", "The Sikkim Way", "His Country", "Teachers of the East" and others were created.

In the process of preparing the expedition, the Roerichs, together with the American businessman Louis Horch, created two business corporations in New York - "Ur" and "Belukha", which had the goal of conducting a wide business enterprise on the territory of the Soviet Union. Being in Moscow during the expedition, Nicholas Roerich wanted to achieve registration, in accordance with Soviet laws, of the Belukha Corporation for the development of deposits. The Roerichs visited Altai with a scientific, reconnaissance and ethnographic expedition, selecting places for the proposed concessions and studying the possibility of "organizing a cultural and industrial center in the area of ​​Belukha Mountain."

The first Central Asian expedition of N. K. Roerich took place in several stages. Upon arrival in Mongolia, it developed into an independent Tibetan journey, now known as the Western Buddhist Mission to Lhasa (1927-1928). By its nature, the Tibetan expedition was not just artistic and archaeological, but, according to its leader, Roerich, had the status of a diplomatic embassy on behalf of the "Union of Western Buddhists".

In the autumn of 1927, the expedition was detained by the Tibetan authorities on the outskirts of Lhasa and for five months was held in snow captivity high in the mountains on the Changtang plateau, where Roerich wrote numerous letters to the Tibetan authorities, including the Dalai Lama, about how unfairly the first "Buddhist embassy". The expedition was never allowed into Lhasa and was forced, at the cost of incredible difficulties and losses, to break through to India.

Himalayan Research Institute “Urusvati”

The extensive scientific material collected by the Roerichs during the expedition required systematization and processing, and at the end of the expeditionOn July 12, 1928, the Himalayan Research Institute was founded in New York.and then in the Western Himalayas,in the Kullu valleyN. K. Roerich foundedUrusvati Institute, which in Sanskrit means "Light of the Morning Star". Here, in Kullu, the last period of the artist's life will pass. Yuri Roerich, the eldest son of Nicholas Roerich, an orientalist, becomes the director of the Institute. He also supervised ethnological-linguistic research and exploration of archaeological sites.

Worked at the Institutemedical, zoological, botanical, biochemical and many other laboratories. A largework in the field of linguistics and philology of the East. Rare written sources of centuries ago were collected and translated into European languages, half-forgotten dialects were studied. Invited experts and temporary employees collected botanical and zoological collections.

Dozens of scientific institutions from Europe, America and Asia cooperated with the Institute. He sent scientific materials to the University of Michigan, the New York Botanical Garden, Punjab University, the Paris Museum of Natural History, Harvard University, and the Botanical Garden of the USSR Academy of Sciences. Academician N. I. Vavilov, a well-known Soviet botanist and geneticist, turned to the Urusvati Institute for scientific information, and also received seeds from there for his unique botanical collection. Collaborated with the Institute and such prominent scientists asAlbert Einstein, Louis de Broglie, Robert Milliken, Sven Hedin and others. Since 1931, the institute has been publishing a yearbook in which the results of the scientific activities of its employees were published. Scientific and periodical publications in Asia, Europe and America published articles on special issues being developed in Urusvati.

Soon a world crisis broke out, then a world war. The Himalayan Research Institute was deprived of opportunities for activity and was mothballed.

Louis Horch and the Master Building

In 1922, Roerich met a prosperous New York brokerLouis L. Horch(Louis L. Horch) and his wife Nettie (Nettie).

In 1925, while Roerich was in Asia, Horsch beganconstruction of the Master Building (The Master Building, the name can be translated asMaster's House or Master's House). The Master Building was a 29-story Art Deco skyscraper with The Roerich Museum and The Master Institute of United Arts on the first two floors, and an apartment hotel on the top two floors. For the construction of the building in 1923, a public organization was established - the Roerich Museum, managed by President L. Horsch and the Board of Trustees, N. K. Roerich was elected Honorary President. Funding sources were Horsch's donations and a bond issue.

The Master's house was solemnlyopened in November 1929. The museum collection hadmore than a thousand paintings by Roerich, works of art of Tibet, library of Tibetan manuscripts. An auditorium for 300 seats was intended for holding public events. United Arts Instituteorganized classes in painting, sculpture, architecture and design.

Horsch helped Roerich in his other undertakings - he financed the Guru expeditions and the enterprises organized by him, primarily the Ur and Belukha concessions. Since 1929, all the commercial undertakings of Roerich and Horsch went unsuccessfully. Roerich's Manchurian expedition of 1934-35 (see below) turned, as it was perceived from the USA, into a continuous scandal; the American press accused Roerich of "humiliating the US government." In August 1935, a crisis broke out, and Horsch stopped communicating with Roerich.

Horsch, as the President of the Roerich Museum and its creditor, had a significant influence on the Board of Attorneys. As it turned out, control over the House of the Master essentially belonged to Horsch, and Roerich disposed of it on the basis of not entirely clear agreements with Horsch. As a result of a series of scandals, seizures of property and lawsuits, the Roerich Museum and the Institute were closed by 1938, the building fell under the control of Horsch.

Horsch initiated an audit by the US tax service, which revealed N.K. Roerich's non-payment of income tax in the amount of $48,000, and also won a lawsuit against Roerich in the amount of $200,000. Together with Roerich's break with Minister G. E. Wallace, claims to Roerich of the US Government, the critical attitude of the American press towards Roerich, these debts led tothat Roerich was never able to return to the USA again. Some of the paintings were sold by the Horsch family to private collections, the museum was closed until 1949.

Manchurian expedition 1934-1935

Roerich, having analyzed the trends in world politics and the prophecies collected during the Central Asian expedition, comes to the conclusion that the mid-1930s may be marked by the unfolding of the process of "unification of Asia", which will begin with Mongolia, Manchuria, northern China and southern and southeastern Siberia. Wishing to take part in this process if possible, he organizes through the American Department of Agriculture a long-term expedition to Manchuria and northern China. In 1930, Roerich became friends with G. E. Wallace, who, having become the Minister of Agriculture in the administration of Franklin Roosevelt, sent Roerich on an expedition to collect plant seeds that prevent the destruction of fertile soil layers.

The expedition was organized in 1934-1935 and consisted of two parts. The first route included the Khingan Range and the Barga Plateau (1934), the second included the Gobi, Ordos and Alashan deserts (1935). These routes passed through the territory of Inner Mongolia, located in the northern and northeastern part of modern China. The artist wrote a lotsketches, spent archaeological research , collected materials on linguistics and folklore . Roerich wrote within 17 months222 essaysfor the "Diary Sheets", which reflect expeditionary work, touch on scientific and philosophical topics. The expedition foundabout 300 species of drought-resistant herbs, medicinal plants are collected. 2,000 parcels of seeds were sent to America. Secretary of Agriculture Henry Wallace, who initiated the expedition, subsequently reported that almost all of the seeds found were either of little or no value.

However, during the expedition, Roerich, largely ignoring the mission entrusted to him, plunged into Asian politics, in vain inciting the Buddhist masses to revolution. Roerich's first business meeting after leaving the United States on an expedition was in Japan with Minister of War Hayashi Senjuro, and the purpose of the meeting wasstudy of the possibilities of creating a new state in the northeast of Asia. Roerich was also active among the large Russian emigration, becoming a notable cultural leader. This caused dissatisfaction with the US authorities, on whose behalf and at whose expense the expedition was carried out. It also attracted the attention of the White Guard counterintelligence, which, having established the fact of Roerich's visit to Moscow and his theosophical hobbies, fanned a scandal in the press. The Japanese authorities, supported by pro-Japanese circles, were dissatisfied with Roerich's work to unite emigration in the Far East and carried out a campaign in the Harbin press to discredit Roerich's cultural mission. Japanese censorship arrested the entire print run of N. K. Roerich's book "Sacred Watch" printed in the printing house. After the publication of a scandalous article in the Chicago Tribune in June 1935, which reported on military preparations for an expedition near the borders of Mongolia, Minister Wallace broke off relations with the Roerichs, as they could ruin his reputation in the eyes of voters.

The expedition was terminated early in Shanghai on September 21, 1935. The deprivation of support from G. Wallace and businessman L. Horsch at the end of 1935 led to the destruction of the activities of all Roerich institutions in the United States.

Roerich Pact and Banner of Peace

In his philosophical and artistic essays, Roerich creates a new concept of Culture based on the ideas of Living Ethics. Culture, according to N. K. Roerich, is closely connected with the problems of the cosmic evolution of mankind and is the "greatest pillar" of this process."Culture rests on Beauty and Knowledge" he wrote. Beauty is known by a person only through Culture, an integral part of which is creativity. This is also mentioned in the books of Living Ethics.

In the broad concept of Culture, N. K. Roerich includedsynthesis of the best achievements of the human spirit in the field of religious experience, science, art, education. Nicholas Roerich formulated the fundamental difference between Culture and civilization. IfCulture is related to the spiritual world of a person in his creative self-expression. , then civilization is only the external arrangement of human life in all its material, civil aspects. Identification of civilization and Culture, Nicholas Roerich argued, leads to a confusion of these concepts, to an underestimation of the spiritual factor in the development of mankind. He wrote that“Wealth in itself does not yet give Culture. But the expansion and refinement of thinking and the feeling of Beauty give that refinement, that nobility of spirit, which distinguishes a cultured person. It is he who can build a bright future for his country.” Proceeding from this, humanity must not only develop Culture, but must also protect it.

Creation and signing of the Pact

In 1929, N. K. Roerich, in collaboration with G. G. Shklyaver, Doctor of International Law and Political Sciences of the University of Paris, prepared a draft Treaty for the Protection of Cultural Property (the Roerich Pact). Together with the Treaty, N. K. Roerich proposes a distinctive sign for identifying objects of protection - the Banner of Peace, which is a white cloth with a red circle and three red circles inscribed in it, symbolizing the unity of the past, present and future in the circle of eternity, according to another version - religion , art and science in the circle of culture.

For international cultural activities and the initiative of the Pact in 1929, Roerich was nominated by the co-author of the Pact Shklyaver G. G.for the Nobel Peace Prize .

In 1929, the text of the draft Treaty with an accompanying address by N. K. Roerich to the governments and peoples of all countries was published in the press and sent to government, scientific, artistic and educational institutions around the world. As a result, committees in support of the Pact have been formed in a number of countries. The draft of the Pact was approved by the Museum Committee of the League of Nations, as well as by the Pan American Union.

Roerich hoped that the Pact would have educational value.“The pact for the protection of cultural treasures is needed not only as an official body, butas an educational lawwho, from the first school days, will educate the younger generation with noble ideas about preserving the true values ​​of all mankind" - said Nicholas Roerich. The idea of ​​the Pact was supportedRomain Rolland, Bernard Shaw, Rabindranath Tagore, Albert Einstein, Thomas Mann, H.G. Wells and etc.

The US State Department deemed the pact "useless, weak and unenforceable".". On August 30, 1933, the government announced the uselessness of the Roerich Pact, since all the points of this document were already included in the Hague Convention of 1907, adopted by the United States at the state level. However, the approval of the treaty by President F. Roosevelt and the propaganda of the Pact by Minister Henry Wallace, who at that time considered Roerich his Guru, prevailed over the opposition of the State Department. The signing of the pact took place April 15, 1935 at the White House in Washington with the personal participation of Franklin Roosevelt. The document was ratified by 10 out of 21 countries of the American continent.

On June 23, 1935, a scandal erupted in America, provoked by an article by Beijing journalist John Powell in the Chicago Tribune newspaper, and concerning Roerich's Manchurian expedition.As a result of the scandal, Henry Wallace stopped the Roerich expedition ahead of schedule and did everything to annul the Pact.. To do this, on October 24, 1935, he sent a series of letters to officials and ambassadors of Latin American states and almost all European powers, reporting on"those who fanatically continue their politics, raising the name, not the ideal" (total in 57 countries). Having lost faith in Roerich, Wallace even tried to rename the Roerich Pact.

The Roerich Pact was the first international act specifically dedicated to the protection of cultural property,the only agreement in this area accepted by a part of the international community before the Second World War. In 1949 at the 4th session of the General ConferenceUNESCOit was decided to start work on international legal regulation in the field of protection of cultural property in the event of an armed conflict. In 1954, the Roerich Pact formed the basis of the Hague "International Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict".

The ideas of the Pact were also reflected in the art of Nicholas Roerich. The emblem of the "Banner of Peace" can be seen on many of his canvases of the thirties. The painting "Madonna-Oriflamma" is specially dedicated to the Pact.

The Second World War

While in India, Nicholas Konstantinovich Roerich from the very first days of World War II uses every opportunity to help Russia. Together with his younger son Svyatoslav Roerich, he arrangesart exhibitions and sales , and transfers all the proceeds to the fund of the Soviet Red Cross and the Red Army.Writes articles in newspapers, speaks on the radio in support of the Soviet people.

During the war years, the artist again turns to the theme of the Motherland in his work. During this period, he creates a number of paintings - "Igor's Campaign", "Alexander Nevsky", "Partisans", "Victory", "Bogatyrs woke up" and others, in which he uses images of Russian history and predicts the victory of the Russian people over fascism.

last years of life

In India, Nicholas Roerich was personallyfamiliar with famous Indian philosophers, scientists, writers, public figures.

In 1942, Nicholas Roerich hosted Jawaharlal Nehru, an Indian freedom fighter, and his daughter, Indira Gandhi, in Kullu. Together they discussed the fate of the new world, in which the long-awaited freedom of the conquered peoples would triumph. Indira Gandhi recalled:

“My father and I had the good fortune to know Nicholas Roerich. He was one of the most impressive people I have ever met. He combined a modern scientist and an ancient sage. He lived in the Himalayas for many years and comprehended the spirit of these mountains, reflecting their countless moods and combinations of colors. The paintings of Nicholas Roerich inspired many new trends among our artists.”

In India, the artist continues to work on a series of paintings "The Himalayas", whichover two thousand paintings . For Roerich, the mountain world is an inexhaustible source of inspiration. Art critics noted the new direction in his work and called "mountain master". In India, the series "Shambhala", "Genghis Khan", "Kuluta", "Kulu", "Holy Mountains", "Tibet", "Ashrams", etc. were written. .

Immediately after the end of the war, the artist requested a visa to enter the Soviet Union, but on December 13, 1947, he passed away without knowing that he had been refused a visa.

In the Kullu Valley, on the site of a funeral pyre, a large rectangular stone was erected, on which the inscription was carved: “On December 15, 1947, the body of Maharishi Nicholas Roerich, the great Russian friend of India, was set on fire here. Let there be peace."

Inheritance

After the death of Nicholas Konstantinovich Roerich, it turned out that in his will he wrote: “I hereby bequeath all my property, paintings, literary rights ... for life use to my wife Helena Ivanovna Roerich. After that, I will bequeath all the said property to the All-Union Communist Party.” Roerich appointed I. V. Stalin, People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs G. V. Chicherin and Consul General of the USSR in China A. Bystrov as executors of his will.

In 1957, part of the property of N. K. Roerich was brought to Moscow by his eldest son Yuri. Over 400 paintings weretransferred to the stateand formed the basis of the exposition of the corresponding sectionMuseum of Oriental Art. Yu. N. Roerich kept the most valuable paintings, family archives, works of art of the peoples of the East and other things in his apartment. He died in 1960, and a significant part of the legacy of N. K. Roerich continued to remain in his apartment, since the decision by the USSR Ministry of Culture to create a memorial museum-apartment was delayed. The former housekeeper N. K. Roerich and her husband remained in the apartment, who categorically refused to give away valuables that did not belong to them.

The other part of the inheritance remained in India, in the possession of Roerich's younger son, Svyatoslav. In 1974, in connection with the celebration of the anniversary of Nicholas Roerich in the USSR, Svyatoslav Nikolayevich brought a collection of his and his father's paintings from India. The paintings were widely exhibited and were later transferred to the State Museum of the East. In 1990, another part of the father's property belonging to Svyatoslav Roerich was transferred to themSoviet Roerich Foundation.

Roerich movement

The Roerich movement arose in the 1920s in such countries as the USA (New York), Latvia (Riga), France (Paris), Bulgaria (Sofia). In the 1920s and 1930s, Roerich societies began to be created, which aimed to promote the Roerich Pact, while simultaneously spreading the ideas of Agni Yoga (“Living Ethics”). Since 1935, after Roerich's support from businessman Louis Horch and politician Henry Wallace ceased, the movement began to decline.

One of the most active was the Roerich Society in Latvia. It was in Riga that many of the Living Ethics books were first published. This society existed before the accession of Latvia to the USSR in 1940. In a short period of time, the publishing house of the Latvian Society published about 50 books, a periodical, etc. The initiator of this publishing activity was Vladimir Anatolyevich Shibaev (1898-1975), a Riga resident. Since 1932, Richard Yakovlevich Rudzitis (1898-1960), a poet and connoisseur of the culture and traditions of the East, who was invited in 1929 to translate works on philosophy, took over the publishing activity.

Roerich societies, circles and groups also existed in Germany, Switzerland ("Crown Mundi"), Estonia, Manchuria (Harbin).

Today, Roerich organizations operate in some countries of Europe, America and Asia, as well as in Australia. Roerich societies exist in such countries of the former USSR as Belarus, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Georgia, Moldova, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia.

Roerich Museums

Roerich Museum in New York

The first Roerich Museum was founded on November 17, 1923 and officially opened to the public on March 24, 1924 in New York City (310 Riverside Drive) with the help of Roerich's close circle of associates, with the financial support of businessman Louis Horch. At the time, it was the only museum in America dedicated to the work of just one artist. Since 1929, the museum and all Roerich institutions were housed in a specially constructed building on the site of the former museum - a 29-story skyscraperThe Master Building. However, the conflict between the Roerichs and Horsch, which began in 1935, led to the ruin of all American Roerich organizations, including the closure of the museum.

Thanks to the efforts of Helena Roerich, Catherine Campbell-Stibbe and Zinaida Fosdick, another Nicholas Roerich Museum was opened in New York in 1949. It is the world's oldest center representing Roerich's paintings and distributing reproductions of his paintings and numerous books about him, about his life and work.

Roerich Museum in Riga (1933-1940)

The Roerich Museum in Riga was established in 1933 by the Latvian Roerich Society on the initiative of N. K. Roerich. Forty canvases by N.K. Sergius (1936), Kuluta (1937), Himalayan and Mongolian landscapes. The museum existed until 1940. In January 2010, a memorial plaque was unveiled on the building that housed the museum.

Museum of the International Center of the Roerichs in Moscow

As a result of complex and dramatic events, the Museum named after Nicholas Roerich was created under the public organization "International Center of the Roerichs", whose director is Lyudmila Shaposhnikova.

The first exposition was opened in the museum on February 12, 1993. The halls of the museum host annual international scientific and public conferences with the participation of prominent scientists and public figures, exhibitions and concerts are organized, lectures are given on the Roerich heritage.

Museum-estate of N. K. Roerich in Izvara

In the Izvara estate near St. Petersburg, since 1984, the Nicholas Roerich Estate Museum has been opened, which is a unique complex of monuments of nature, archeology, architecture, history and culture, the first State Roerich Museum in Russia. Currently, the Museum Complex is located on 60 hectares and includes 9 manor buildings of the 18th - early 20th centuries, an old park, spring lakes.

The Izvara estate was acquired in 1872 by K. F. Roerich, the artist's father. The Roerich family owned the estate from 1872 to 1900. In the 1910s, the Ministry of Justice purchased the estate from the last owners for the St. Petersburg children's agricultural colony, the architectural ensemble of which (architect A. A. Yakovlev, 1916) complemented the appearance of the estate and is currently part of the Museum complex.

The museum holds conferences, holidays, poetic and musical evenings, international peacekeeping actions. Since 2002, a comprehensive scientific expedition has been operating on the territory of the Museum-Estate to study the nature of Izvara, and archaeological research has been carried out. On July 31, 2006, the Governor of the Leningrad Region, V.P. Serdyukov, signed an Order on the development of a project for the creation of a specially protected natural area “Natural Monument” within the boundaries of the N.K. Roerich Museum-Estate in Izvara.

Museum of the Roerich family in St. Petersburg

The St. Petersburg State Cultural Institution "Museum-Institute of the Roerich Family" was established on March 12, 2007. The basis of the memorial exposition of the Museum-Institute was the legacy preserved by Helena Roerich's niece L. S. Mitusova and her family. For several years of the museum's existence, the owners of private collections have donated a number of art and other exhibits to the museum. To date, its funds include about 15 thousand items, including personal items, manuscripts, paintings, arts and crafts, archaeological finds, photographs and other exhibits related to the life and work of the Roerich family.

N. K. Roerich Museum in Novosibirsk

House-Museum of the Roerichs in Ulaanbaatar

Awards

Cavalier of the Russian orders of St. Stanislav, St. Anna and St. Vladimir.

Cavalier of the Yugoslav Order of Saint Sava.

Chevalier of the Order of the Legion of Honor of France.

Knight of the Royal Swedish Order of the Polar Star.

List of organizations that N. K. Roerich was a member of (45 items)

Active member of the Russian Academy of Arts.

Founder of the Institute of United Arts in New York (USA).

Founder of the International Cultural Center "Corona Mundi" (USA).

Honorary Director of the Nicholas Roerich Museum in New York and its branches in Europe, America and the countries of the East.

Active member of the Yugoslav Academy of Sciences and Arts (Zagreb).

Active member of the Portuguese Academy (Coimbra).

Active member of the Reims Academy (France).

Active member of the International Institute of Science and Literature (Bologna, Italy).

Honorary Member of the Committee for Culture (Buenos Aires, Argentina).

Vice President of the Mark Twain Society (USA).

Vice President of the American Institute of Archeology (USA).

Honorary Member of the Benares Enlightenment Society (India).

Honorary Member of the More Society (France).

Member of the Red Cross (France).

Member of the Society for the Study of Antiquities (France).

Life member of the Federation of French Artists (Paris).

Member of the Autumn Salon (Paris).

Life member of the Society of Antiquaries (Paris).

Honorary President of the International Union in Support of the Roerich Pact (Bruges).

Honorary patron of the Historical Society at the Academy (Paris).

Honorary President of the Roerich Society in France (Paris).

Founding member of the Ethnographic Society (Paris).

Honorary President of the Roerich Academy (New York).

Honorary President of the Flamma Society for Cultural Progress (Indiana, USA).

Honorary President of the Roerich Society in Philadelphia (USA).

Honorary Member of the Society for the Preservation of Historic Monuments (New York).

Honorary President of the Latvian Roerich Society (Riga).

Honorary President of the Roerich Societies in Lithuania, Yugoslavia, China.

Honorary member of the Subhas Chandra Bose Institute (Calcutta).

Member of the Jagadis Bose Institute (India).

Member of the Nagati Prachari Sabha (India).

Life Member of the Royal Asiatic Society in Bengal (Calcutta).

Life member of the Oriental Art Society (Calcutta).

Honorary President and Doctor of Literature of the International Institute for the Study of Buddhism in San Francisco (California) [International Buddhist Institute (USA)].

Honorary member of the Russian Museum of History and Culture in Prague (Czechoslovakia).

Honorary Member of the Luzas Society (Paris).

Honorary Member of the League for the Defense of Art (Paris).

Patron of the Cultural Society (Amritsar, India).

Charitable member of the Association for International Studies (Paris).

Honorary Member of the Field Association (St. Louis, USA).

Honorary Member of the Braurveda Society (Java).

Honorary Member of the National Association of Natural Medicine in America (Los Angeles, California).

Honorary President of the Center for Arts and Culture (Allahabad, India).

President of the League of Culture (USA).

Honorary President of the American-Russian Cultural Association in New York (USA).

The main works of N. K. Roerich

Art and archeology // Art and art industry. SPb., 1898. No. 3; 1899. No. 4-5.

Some Antiquities of the Shelon Pyatina and the Bezhetsky End. SPb., 1899.

Stone Age on Lake Piros. SPb., 1905.

Collected works. Book. 1. M., 1914.

Ways of Blessing. New York, 1924.

Heart of Asia. Southbury, 1929.

State of Light. Southbury, 1931.

Flame Stronghold. NY, .

Banner of Peace. Harbin, 1934.

Holy Watch. Harbin, 1934.

Gateway to the Future. Riga, 1936.

Indestructible. Riga, 1936.

Altai - Himalayas: Travel diary. M., 1974.

From the literary heritage. M., 1974.

Flowers of Morya: Poems. M., 1984.

Fairy tales. L., 1991.

The abode of the world. M., 1992.

Take care of the old. M., 1993.

ancient sources. M., 1993.

Artists of life. M., 1993.

Young friend. M., 1993.

Urusvati. M., 1993.

East - West. M., 1994.

Culture and civilization. M., 1994.

About the Great Patriotic War. M., 1994.

Fenugreek. M., 1994.

Soul of peoples. M., 1995.

Diary sheets. In 3 vols. M., 1995-1996.

Shambhala. New York, 1930.

Banner of Peace. New York, 1931.

Himalayas - Abode of Light. Bombay, 1947.

adamant. New York, 1967.

Estimates of N. K. Roerich and his work

At the request of Roerich in the spring of 1919L. Andreev wrote an article "The Power of Roerich":

... One cannot but admire Roerich ... the richness of his colors is boundless ... Roerich's path is the path of glory ... Roerich's brilliant fantasy reaches those limits beyond which it becomes already clairvoyance.

Nikolai Gumilyovpraised the work of Roerich:

Roerich is the highest degree of modern Russian art... The manner of his writing - powerful, healthy, so simple in appearance and so refined in essence - varies depending on the events depicted, but always reveals the petals of the same soul, dreamy and passionate. With his work, Roerich opened unopened areas of the spirit that our generation is destined to develop. .

Prime Minister of IndiaJawaharlal Nehru :

When I think of Nicholas Roerich, I am amazed at the scope and richness of his activity and creative genius. A great artist, a great scientist and writer, an archaeologist and explorer, he touched and illuminated so many aspects of human endeavor. The sheer number is amazing - thousands of paintings, and each of them is a great work of art. .

Academician of the Russian Academy of SciencesDmitry Sergeevich Likhachev wrote about N. K. Roerich:

N. K. Roerich was an ascetic of culture on a global scale. He raised the Banner of Peace, the Banner of Culture over the planet, thereby showing humanity the ascending path of perfection .

Likhachev also considered Roerich, along with Lomonosov, Derzhavin, Pushkin, Tyutchev, Solovyov and others.one of the "most powerful and original thinkers in Rus'" who contributed to the knowledge of the world through its artistic comprehension .

In October 2011, at the presentation of the Nicholas Roerich Prize,Leon.Mikh. Roshalsaid the following:

Roerich for me is a huge admiration for a humanist who was always looking, who had plans, carried out plans. In everything, he had an idea to unite people and oppose everything that is unkind in the world.

In October 1975, the Prime Minister of IndiaIndira Gandhi, who personally knew N. K. Roerich, expressed the following opinion about the Russian artist:

His paintings amaze with their richness and subtle sense of color and, above all, wonderfully convey the mysterious grandeur of the nature of the Himalayas. Yes, and he himself, with his appearance and nature, seemed to some extent imbued with the soul of the great mountains. He was not verbose, but restrained power emanated from him, which seemed to fill the entire surrounding space. We deeply respect Nicholas Roerich for his wisdom and creative genius. We also appreciate him as a link between the Soviet Union and India... I think that the paintings of Nicholas Roerich, his stories about India will give the Soviet people a part of the soul of their Indian friends. I also know that N. K. Roerich and his family contributed in many ways to creating a more complete picture of the Soviet country in India.

President of RussiaVladimir Putinso spoke about N. K. Roerich(answer to the question: What are your associations with India?)

First, we must immediately recall the well-known both in Russia and in India artist Nicholas Roerich. This is an amazing life, this is amazing creativity, this is an amazing example of spiritual closeness, perhaps not lying on the surface, but nevertheless, the spiritual closeness of our peoples ...

Russia and India noted the importance of preserving and supporting the unique artistic and cultural heritage of the Roerich family, which is of lasting importance for Russian-Indian friendship.

From the joint statement of the parties on the results of Vladimir Putin's visit to India on December 3-5, 2002.

Memory of N. K. Roerich

In 1974, the 100th anniversary of Nicholas Roerich was included by UNESCO in the "Calendar of memorable dates of great personalities and events (1973-1974)".

In Moscow, on the territory of the Lopukhins' estate in front of the Museum named after Nicholas Roerich, a monument to Nicholas and Helena Roerich was erected.

One of the streets in the center of Riga was named in honor of Nicholas Roerich.

In the village of Izvara, Leningrad region, where Nicholas Roerich lived for a long time, since 1984, the Museum-estate of Nicholas Roerich has been operating.

In St. Petersburg, there is the St. Petersburg Art College. N. K. Roerich and the Museum of the Roerich family.

In 1999, the Bank of Russia issued two commemorative coins dedicated to the 125th anniversary of the birth of Nicholas Roerich.

In honor of N. K. Roerich, the ship "Artist Nicholas Roerich" was named.

In 2003, the international Nicholas Roerich Prize was established in honor of the 300th anniversary of St. Petersburg, and since then it has been awarded annually.

In 2007, a new Aeroflot airliner was named after Nicholas Roerich.

Acquaintance with the life and work of Nicholas Roerich is included in the compulsory curriculum for high school students in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. This decision was made by the Education Council of this region in northern India, where Nicholas Roerich and his family lived for many years. According to Himachal Pradesh Board of Education Chairman Chaman Lal Gupta, the rising generation should know about the life and legacy of such an extraordinary personality.“We are proud that it was Himachal Pradesh that became for Roerich the place that, in Indian tradition, is considered to be a destiny predestined for a person” , said Chaman Lal Gupta.

On March 25-26, 2008, as part of the Year of Russia in India, New Delhi hosted the Russian-Indian festival "The Roerichs and the Cultural and Spiritual Unity of Russia and India", timed to coincide with the 80th anniversary of the Roerichs' foundation in Naggar (Kulu Valley) of the Institute of Himalayan Studies. studies of "Urusvati" and the 100th anniversary of the birth of the outstanding Indian film actress Devika Rani Roerich, the wife of the youngest son of N. K. Roerich -S. N. Roerich. In December 2008, at the closing ceremony of the Year of Russia in India, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev noted:“The Year of Russia in India fully justified our expectations. More than 150 events took place within its framework. But, of course, not only their number is impressive, but also the originality of these events. This is both the Festival of Russian Culture and joint work to preserve the heritage of the Roerich family”

In September 2009, a monument to Nicholas Roerich was opened on the territory of the special economic zone "Turquoise Katun" in the Altai Territory.

As part of the celebration of the 135th anniversary of the birth of N. Roerich, on November 11, 2009, in one of the largest universities in the Indian capital Jamia Millia Islamia (New Delhi), a solemn opening of the photo exhibition "The Banner of Peace - the Roerich Pact" was held, organized by the Representative Office

Rossotrudnichestvo in India together with the Academy of Third World Studies (ATWS-JMI)

To celebrate the 75th anniversary of the signing of the Roerich Pact in 2010, the International Exhibition Project "Roerich's Age" (St. Petersburg) was timed, in which more than 70 museums, libraries, archives and private collections from 33 cities of Russia and the world took part.

On November 9, 2010, a monument to Nicholas Roerich was unveiled in St. Petersburg. A monument made of Karelian granite 3.5 meters high was installed in the Vasileostrovets garden at the intersection of Bolshoy Prospekt with the 25th line of Vasilyevsky Island. Sculptor V. V. Zaiko and architect Yu. F. Kozhin.

In honor of N. K. Roerich, a new type of equestrians from Nepal was named,Lathrolestes roerichi Reshchikov, 2011

In 2013, the International Astronomical Union named a crater on Mercury after N. K. Roerich

On October 15, 1969, astronomers of the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory Nikolai Stepanovich and Lyudmila Ivanovna Chernykh discovered a small planet (asteroid) in the solar system and named after the Roerich family. Asteroid 4426 has been registered.

In October 1999, in his speech at the Roerich Museum about this event, astronomer N. S. Chernykh, who discovered more than 500 asteroids, said: “The name was approved by a special commission of the International Astronomical Union, consisting of 11 representatives from different countries of the world. Only with unanimous opinion the name is accepted. The appearance of the small planet “Roerich” is an international recognition of creativity and outstanding achievements of the Roerichs.”

Geographical objects named after N. K. Roerich:

Peak and pass named after N. K. Roerich in Altai

On August 15, 1963, on Independence Day of India, Tomsk climbers V. Syrkin, G. Shvartsman, A. Ivanov, V. Petrenko, L. Spiridonov, G. Skryabin, V. Slyusarchuk, Yu. Salivon, B. Gusev, S. Lobanov climbed to the previously unnamed peak and named it after N. K. Roerich.

Near the Roerich Peak there is a pass, also named after him.

Glacier and passes named after N. K. Roerich in the Tien Shan

On the Tien Shan there are two passes and a glacier named after N. K. Roerich.

The Roerich Pass is located on the Saryzhaz Ridge. The height of the pass is 4320 meters. It connects the valleys of the rivers Chontash, Tyuz and Achiktashsu. The first ascent of the pass was made by a group of climbers led by A. Posnichenko.

The second pass, named after N. K. Roerich, is located in the northwestern part of the Ak-Shyirak ridge and connects the middle part of the Petrov glacier and the valley of the Sarytor river. The height of the pass is 4500 meters.

The glacier of Nicholas Roerich is located at an altitude of 3700 meters and originates onAlamedin wall.

Postage stamps depicting N. K. Roerich and his work

1974, USSR - A stamped envelope was issued by the Ministry of Communications of the USSR. It depicts a portrait of N. K. Roerich against the background of his painting "Overseas guests". In the same year, a stamp was issued with the image of this picture.

1974, India - a commemorative stamp was issued, which depicts the obverse of a commemorative medal created in 1929 in Paris on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the artistic, scientific and social activities of Nicholas Roerich.

1977, USSR - The Ministry of Communications of the USSR issued two stamps depicting the Church of the Holy Spirit in Talashkino, above the entrance of which a mosaic "The Savior Not Made by Hands" was made according to the sketches of N. K. Roerich.

1978, Bulgaria - a stamp was issued with a fragment of the portrait of N. K. Roerich, made by S. N. Roerich. In addition to the stamp, a first-day envelope was issued, and at the main post office in Sofia on April 5, 1978, the cancellation was carried out with a first-day stamp.

1986, Mexico - Issued a stamp with a coupon dedicated to the International Year of Peace (Año Internacional de la Paz). On the stamp there is the emblem of the United Nations and the symbol of the Banner of Peace by Nicholas Roerich, the signatures are “ONU” (UN) and “Pax Cultura” (Pact of Culture).

1990, USSR - two stamps dedicated to the Soviet Cultural Fund were issued. On one of them, the painting by N. K. Roerich "Unkrada" (1909) is reproduced, on the second - the painting "Pskov-Pechora Monastery".

1999, Russia — the Marka Publishing Center of the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications of Russia issued a stamped envelope “Russian artist N. K. Roerich. 1874-1947" for his 125th birthday. The stamp depicts a fragment of the portrait of Nicholas Roerich, painted by S. N. Roerich in 1934, against the background of a fragment of Nicholas Roerich's painting "The Book of Life".

2001, Russia - the Marka Publishing Center of the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications of Russia issued a stamped envelope dedicated to the International Treaty on the Protection of Artistic and Scientific Institutions and Historical Monuments (the Roerich Pact). The illustration shows a painting by N. K. Roerich “The Pact of Culture. Banner of Peace "(1931).

2003, Moldova - a stamp was issued with the image of the painting “Pact of Culture. Banner of Peace" (1931), as well as on the Russian stamp of 2001.

2008, Russia - Marka Publishing Center issued an envelope dedicated to the Central Asian expedition of Nicholas Roerich (1923-1928).

International organizations, foundations and museums

Scientific department of the Roerichs' heritage State Museum East

Nicholas Roerich Museum (New York)

International Center-Museum. N. K. Roerich (Moscow)

International Council of Roerich Organizations named after S. N. Roerich (Moscow)

International Roerich Memorial Trust (Naggar, India)

Museum-Estate of N. K. Roerich in Izvara (St. Petersburg)

Museum-Institute of the Roerich Family (St. Petersburg)

Research Foundation of the Roerichs (St. Petersburg)

Odessa House-Museum. N. K. Roerich (Odessa)

Roerich organizations

N. K. Roerich Museum (Novosibirsk)

Memorial House-Museum of N. K. Roerich in Altai (Verkhniy Uimon village)

Siberian Roerich Society (Novosibirsk Center)

Kuzbass Roerich Society (Center Novokuznetsk)

Video films

"Nicholas Roerich - Herald of Beauty". 2008

Time to collect stones... documentary about the Roerich Pact. Director Valery Shatin, 2007.

"Letters. Nicholas and Svyatoslav Roerich. 2005 year.

"Artist Nicholas Roerich". USSR, 1958

Nicholas Roerich. Studio "Kyivnauchfilm", 1976

"The Legend of the First Mystery of the Cosmos". Cinema Art Studio, 2011

Interesting Facts

In 1912, a monument was erected on the grave of the composer N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov in the form of an ancient Novgorod cross, made according to the sketch of N. K. Roerich

The famous historian and orientalist L.N. Gumilyov used a fragment of the painting by N. K. Roerich “Flowers of Timur. Lights of Victory" (1931) for the cover design of his book "The Xiongnu" (1960)

On April 12, 1961, during the first flight into space, cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin wrote in the logbook:

The rays shone through the earth's atmosphere, the horizon became bright orange, gradually turning into all the colors of the rainbow: to blue, blue, purple, black. Indescribable colors! Like on the canvases of the artist Nicholas Roerich

June 5, 2013 Roerich's painting "The Works of Our Lady" was sold at the auction house Bonhams in London for 7.88 million pounds. This is a world record for a painting by a Russian artist.