vlad.tribnet.com / Issue #163 / Arts and Ideas / Reading article...

An exhibition of Nikolai Roerich’s pictures which opened in the Arseniev Museum Branch last week reveals an interesting phenomenon in the life of Russia’s intelligentsia.

As a student in the pre-perestroika years, I visited half-secret meetings of Roerich societies, where people would show slides of his pictures and tell about his spiritual life in the Himalayas. Roerich, who lived from 1874-1947, was something of an alternative to both Communist Party ideology and the Russian Orthodox religion, against which the young generation was heavily brainwashed. His wife Yelena wrote a philosophical book that still has a great influence on the Russian intelligentsia. Life in India itself seemed unusual and appealing to people behind the Iron Curtain.

Roerich himself published more than 30 books in different languages: journals, travel books, stories on the culture and art of various countries. Yet in his will, he bequeathed over 500 pictures to the Communist Party.
Zhivaya Etica (Living Ethics), a Vladivostok society, still reveres the couple and puts much effort into organizing Roerich exhibitions. Roerich’s fans say that they feel a great energy coming out of Yelena’s book and Nikolai’s pictures, and some have even formed a cult around of the couple. Critics reply that there is too much fuss around them, and Roerich’s pictures are just good works of an artist who worked within the style of the Mir Iskusstva Association of the early 20th century. This group used a bright, decorative style in its paintings, drawings and theater scenery.

The 62 mountain landscapes from the International Roerich Center in Moscow are not the master’s best works. They are mainly mountain scenes, with jagged Himalayan vistas and bold cobalt blues. However, the policemen guarding the display say that they feel something which makes them want to fly.

What: Exhibition by Nikolai Roerich, including Himalayan series from the International Roerich Center in Moscow.
Where: Arseniev Museum Branch, 6 Petra Velikovo St.
When: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., until April 17.
Cost: 15 rubles.