The International Center of the Roerichs in Maly Znamensky Lane got into a "cultural" scandal, but this story is not about art, but about fraud. In the early morning of March 7, investigators and representatives of riot police entered the private museum. During the search, over 200 paintings and drawings by Nicholas Roerich were seized.
It is illegal, - the vice-president of the ICR Alexander Stetsenko will say later at a press conference. - In our opinion, this is an armed seizure of the museum under the pretext of investigating the criminal case of the bursting Master Bank.
The shocked museum staff did not want to let riot policemen in. Those had to break down the doors and still pack the paintings of Nicholas Roerich in 57 boxes and take them out for examination.
We were told that they were purchased with the "stolen" money of Boris Bulochnik, who for many years was a patron of the International Center of the Roerichs, "said Alexander Stetsenko.
Who is the Baker?
Boris Ilyich until 2013 was the chairman of the board of Master-Bank, until the Central Bank of Russia learned that the baker with his partners had carried out large-scale dubious transactions. The license to carry out banking operations was revoked from Master-Bank. The baker, according to media reports, robbed his depositors for almost 70 billion rubles. By the way, the International Center of the Roerichs kept their savings in the accounts of this bank and lost about 4.5 million rubles. But the law enforcement agencies did not manage to detain Boris Ilyich - he disappeared through the back door of the department and went to Israel. Later, according to some sources, he returned with his wife to their homeland - to the Vinnitsa region of Ukraine. The disappeared banker was put on the federal and international wanted list, and the Tverskoy Court of Moscow authorized in absentia in April 2016 the arrest of Bulochnik, accused of deliberate bankruptcy of a credit institution.
But the museum does not even want to hear about the dubious lines of the biography, they only speak positively about Boris Ilyich. For almost fifteen years he was their patron - he allocated funds for the restoration of the Lopukhins' estate, where the museum is now based. The banker was allegedly so carried away by Roerich's work that the Baker bought more than 30 Roerich's paintings at auctions and donated them to the museum. Each painting cost $ 2-3 million, now for some exhibits they ask for more - $ 12 million.
We don't know where the Baker is now. After the criminal case was brought against him, he did not appear in the museum, - Olga Mironova, head of the development department of the Museum named after N.K. Roerich. - You should have seen him with his wife - these are the most modest people. When they came to their house with a search, there was nothing to take to confiscate the valuable.
What paintings were taken away?
The exact number is not named in the museum itself. They say up to 200. Among them there are only nine paintings that were donated by Boris Bulochnik.
- And the rest of the paintings? What was withdrawn? - I asked.
These are paintings and drawings by Roerich that appeared in our museum in the period from 2002 to 2017. But which ones they cannot name specifically - we were warned about non-disclosure of such information, since it is a state secret, - said the vice-president of the ICR Alexander Stetsenko. - I'll tell you that all the paintings that Boris Ilyich gave us, he has no property rights. We do not have any documents now either - they were taken during the confiscation of the paintings. There is reason to believe that later the Ministry of Culture will generally say that we have no documents for the paintings.
The department itself has not yet publicly reacted to these accusations. But a law enforcement source said the searches in the museum had nothing to do with the Russian Ministry of Culture.
- For a long time, the Baker was one of the main sponsors, and who is now?
This is open information - we are a public organization created on the initiative of Svetoslav Roerich (author's note - the son of Nicholas Roerich). It has a certain number of members, there is a charter ...
They did not give the names of influential sponsors, but fundraising is ongoing, even on the territory of the museum - there are transparent boxes with requests for help. But they voiced the idea that the Ministry of Culture has long been "hunting" for cultural values \u200b\u200bthat the private Museum of them. N.K. Roerich. Here they are worried that the paintings will be sold or given to the State Museum of Oriental Art, and the Lopukhins' estate will be taken away from them.
We have had an unofficial "war" with the state museum for a long time. After all, there is a part of Roerich's collection, mostly there are early works that were painted in Russia - before the artist left for India, says one of the museum employees. - But, if we have a tag with parameters for each picture, because the pictures before the collapse of the USSR were given to us by Svetoslav Roerich himself, then all the numbers do not add up. We generally have doubts about the authenticity. And if they want to take away our collection from us, which is much larger, then they even have nowhere to place it. We have already heard that the paintings were taken not to the Investigative Committee, but to the State Museum of Oriental Art.
Why was Roerich's cabinet closed?
To find out information, I go to Nikitsky Boulevard, where the State Museum of Oriental Art is located. It has two halls with paintings by Nicholas and Svyatoslav Roerichs and a memorial office with personal belongings.
Only the office is closed from today, - the cashier tells me at the entrance.
- Why? - I am interested.
We were not told. They said to say that for technical reasons. Although the renovation seems to have been completed recently.
There is a white chair under the entrance door to the memorial office. And the employee in the hall tells me to come tomorrow.
- Have you already brought pictures from the Roerich Museum? Where can you see them? - I ask, referring to information from the media.
Well, so far we are not talking about this. There will also be a trial. But if they decide so, then you will read about the updated exposition on our official website - do not read the rest, - says the museum employee.
Returning to the cashier, I asked to be allowed into the same office tomorrow, which had been closed for mysterious reasons.
They won't open tomorrow. Come back in a month, or better in two, when everything is over, - interrupting our conversation, said the museum guard.
- What will end? - I clarify.
Well, this whole story.
MIA OFFICIALLY
The seized paintings of Nicholas and Svyatoslav Roerichs were purchased by the former chairman of the board of one of the capital's banks for money stolen from a credit institution, - said the official representative of the Russian Interior Ministry Irina Volk.
Investigators have established that Boris Bulochnik, acting as part of an organized group, entered into a number of fictitious loan agreements with more than 170 individuals and 200 legal entities. It is known that he was also a sponsor of the Museum. N.K. Roerich, where in the period from 1990 to 2010 he donated paintings of Nicholas and Svyatoslav Roerichs, acquired with funds received by affiliated individuals on fictitious loans in a bank. On this fact, a criminal case was initiated on the grounds of a crime under the article "Intentional bankruptcy", which was later re-qualified under the article "Fraud" of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.
OPINION OF THE LAWYER
Lawyer Oleg Pavlovich answered the questions of Komsomolskaya Pravda.
- Did the investigators have the right to seize the paintings before the trial?
If a criminal case is initiated, then during the period of its investigation, it is also allowed to conduct an inspection, search and seizure of things that in the future may be recognized as objects of a crime. They can be transferred for safekeeping or left where they were. If later the court finds that the accused people are not guilty, then the physical evidence is returned. If the court's decision is different, then things are transferred to the owner or the state.
- And the museum staff should have been warned about the search, about the arrival of the riot police?
No. This is done most often if people are to blame, so that they do not have time to hide the traces of the crime. In this case, destroy the paintings or hide them. The meaning of the search is that it is carried out suddenly.
Pictures of Nicholas and Svyatoslav Roerichs, withdrawn from the International Center of the Roerichs on March 7, were transferred to the Museum of the East. So far, this institution acts as a warehouse for storing material evidence. The fact is that the works taken out of the ICR, according to the investigation, were donated to the center by the owner of the Master-Bank, which had sunk into oblivion, Boris Bulochnik, against whom a criminal case was initiated. Let us remind you that it is for the Oriental Museum that the Ministry of Culture has been "wringing out" the Lopukhins' estate occupied by the Roerichs Center for many years.
On March 7, the numerous female collective of the International Center of the Roerichs was literally stunned by the “gift” presented by the Ministry of Culture and law enforcement officers. The working day began for them with closed doors, guarded by riot police. While indignant employees gathered at the entrance to the center, who were not provided with absolutely no information, and media representatives, in the building of the Lopukhins' estate itself, without exaggeration, a barbaric confiscation of exhibits took place.
Later it became known that investigative actions in the ICR were held within the framework of a criminal case initiated against Boris Bulochnik, who at one time was the largest patron of the Roerichs Center, being the owner of the Master-Bank, closed in 2013. The investigation believes that the paintings were bought with money stolen by the banker. In the Center of the Roerichs itself, the investigators are skeptical about suspicions, to put it mildly.
Vice President of the ICR Alexander Stetsenko:
“We had a patron of the arts Boris Ilyich Bulochnik. The Master Bank did not transfer any accounts to us. And they carried out the paintings, donated since 2002. And the investigators said it was bought with stolen money. How? 17 years ago the baker bought paintings abroad, returned them to their homeland, to Russia. "
The Ministry of Culture “disowns” the events that took place in the Roerichs Center, stating that the representatives of the department were present during the seizure exclusively in the role of “experts”. But we must not forget that for many years the Ministry of Culture has been trying to literally expel the ICR staff from the Lopukhins estate (restored, by the way, without the participation of this very Ministry of Culture) and transfer historical building, and at the same time priceless heritage of the Roerichs, subordinate to the Museum of the East. Later it became known that the paintings taken from the Roerichs' Center ended up in this museum, which has so far become a temporary warehouse for storing material evidence. In total, about 200 exhibits were seized (paintings and drawings)... The leadership of the ICR was forbidden to disclose specific names, according to them, not all of the paintings donated by the Baker went to the Museum of the Orient, but at the same time works that had nothing to do with the patron were seized.
“About 50 packages were transferred to us for storage as material evidence. How many paintings are there, I cannot say, since we have no right to print them ", - quotes the words of the Director General of the Museum of the East Alexandra Sedova agency TASS.
It is curious that it was on March 7 that the Moscow Arbitration Court rejected the application of the State Museum of the East to expedite the consideration of its claim to evict the International Center of the Roerichs from buildings 4 and 7 of the Lopukhins' estate, which houses the N.K. Roerich.
It's not cultural
It is difficult to talk about what happened on March 7 without such terms as “savagery”, “barbarism” and “shame”. How else to call the situation when the "experts" from the Ministry of Culture, accompanied by riot police (as Alexander Stetsenko said, in the hands of one of them he saw an ax, apparently to knock down locks), without waiting for the arrival of the ICR lawyer, block the work of the institution, forcing the employees to "sit quietly"? Isn't it crazy without any explanation of the reasons not to let the people who came to work, for whom the Roerichs Center has become a second home, one might say, the meaning of life? Perhaps the author of these lines is an overly impressionable person, but seeing the devastated glances of the female employees of the Center who have received such a “gift” by March 8, it becomes not only painful, but also in many ways ashamed. I sincerely wish the workers of other cultural institutions, whose patron was Boris Bulochniknever face the same attitude.
During a press conference, the leadership of the ICR told in detail about what was happening inside the museum, where the riot police and the same "experts" were in charge for several hours.
The acuteness of this situation is also made by the fact that it was not at all necessary to arrange a "mask show" on a chilly pre-holiday day. This is what the first deputy general director of the Museum named after N.K. Roerich Pavel Zhuravikhin:
“There is absolutely no logic in the actions of law enforcement officers. And this is not only about the absurdity of the situation with the former patron of the arts. The fact is that almost the same story has already arisen with us - representatives of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, within the framework of the same criminal case, came and reported that some of the paintings had been assigned the status of material evidence. At that time, we signed a paper stating that we undertake not to take any action with these paintings and that's it, no seizure happened. We have strictly followed this prescription. Why it was necessary this time to act differently - one can only guess. "
According to him, there is no confirmation of the qualifications of the people who confiscated the paintings. Moreover, deep doubts are raised by the conditions in which the transportation was carried out - "It was the most ordinary small van, and not a special transport suitable for the carriage of such cargo"... Let us remind you that we are talking about priceless paintings by the great Nicholas Roerich!
The story is not over
It is clear that the Roerichs Center will not give up and will continue to defend its Museum, there is more to come court... So far, it remains only to wish courage and resilience to the team, which literally from the first days of the existence of the International Center of the Roerichs has been defending the right to preserve social status heritage of our great compatriots. If anyone does not know, Svetoslav Roerich at the end of the 80s directly pointed out that the heritage of his family is transferred to Russia on the condition that paintings and other works of art will be kept and exhibited in the Museum, which has a public status. That is, its work should not depend on any departmental barriers that characterize, unfortunately, all domestic ministries without exception.
“The incident that took place on Tuesday fits into a wider campaign launched by the Ministry of Culture and the Museum of the Orient against our public Museum. We are already accustomed to unscheduled inspections, of which there were 17 by the Ministry of Culture in 2016 alone, to stupid accusations of extremism, which, of course, have not been confirmed ... Svyatoslav Roerich, and not the lot of officials, ”concluded Pavel Zhuravikhin.
How long the Oriental Museum will play the role of "temporary storage of material evidence" is unknown. It is very likely that a kind of endgame of this game, unleashed, apparently, by the Ministry of Culture, will be the imperceptible disappearance of the "temporary" status, and the paintings will remain in the Museum of the Orient with the tacit consent of society. It would be appropriate to recall the appeal of Nicholas Roerich himself in his message to "Friends of the Banner of Peace".
“... no decrees will create culture and will not protect it if the public is indifferent and inactive. Culture is the expression of the entire people. Protecting and raising it is a nationwide duty. "
N.K. Roerich (To Friends of the Banner of Peace, 1947)
Where is Roerich in Zagreb from?
In 1932, a batch of paintings from the Nicholas Roerich Museum in New York went on a world tour (Riga, Zagreb, Belgrade, Buenos Aires, Prague). The program of the famous museum included a clause on obligatory exhibitions of the artist's paintings in different parts of the world.
Roerich's paintings arrived in Zagreb in 1933, and then a permanent exhibition of paintings was organized in the museum of the Yugoslav Academy of Sciences. In 1934, 24 of them were transferred to the Belgrade Museum of Prince Paul, and 10 were given to the museum Moderna galerijain Zagreb for storage. Among them were Ashram (1931), Order of the Teacher (1931), Tibetan Camp (1931), Way to Kailash (1931), Idols (1910), ParanirvanaParanirvana (1926), Morning Procession (1931), Kanchenjunga (1924), Abode of the Teacher (1931), Tashiding (1924).This action was carried out in connection with the possible arrival in Zagreb of Nicholas Roerich himself, who was elected an honorary member of the Yugoslav Academy of Sciences back in 1930.
Unnecessary inheritance
Photo: from the catalog of the Moderna Museum galerija. Kanchenjunga (1924)
Nicholas Roerich never donated his paintings, but generously shared them for temporary exhibiting. However, it happens that time and historical events grossly violate a person's will. This is exactly what happened with the "Zagreb" collection, which remained in the city because of the Second World War. At that time, no one had the opportunity to deal with the issues of returning paintings to Roerich, who was already living in India.
In 1947 the artist dies. His family, remembering the collection stuck in Zagreb, cannot find the right solutions to return it. The Roerichs dreamed of returning the paintings, but they really didn’t want the paintings to end up in New York. The artist's son, Svetoslav Roerich, writes to his mother, Helena Roerich, that now his father's paintings are in the museum warehouse in Zagreb and they are not exhibited: “This was learned by my friends who traveled to Yugoslavia. But we must be very careful not to attract the machinations of American invaders . Let it lie until we come up with concrete steps ... ". (L. Sorokina. The Roerich Family, p. 350).
Alas, no one could find the right solutions, and the paintings are languishing in storerooms to this day. Moderna galerija... From time to time, according to the museum's work plan, they are exhibited, a catalog is issued, and then again put into the shade.
When will Roerich's paintings see the real light in Zagreb?
Photo: from the catalog of the Moderna galerija museum. Tashiding (1924)
To this day, paintings by the great Russian artist, Knight of the Yugoslav Order of St. Sava and a member of the Yugoslav Academy of Sciences are kept in storerooms Moderna galerija... Their curator is the museum advisor Mrs. Dayana Vlasavlevich. She knows well the value of Roerich's paintings and regrets the current conditions of their maintenance. In addition, in a private conversation, she expressed regret that Moderna galerija cooperates with the New York Museum and some others, but is not in working contacts with any of the Russian museums in connection with the Roerich collection. With the consent and support of Mrs. Dayana Vlasavlevich, in March 2015, through the efforts of some Russian enthusiasts living in Zagreb, contact was established with the staff of the Roerich Department of the Museum of the East in Moscow, who readily responded to the call for cooperation. The head of the "Roerichs Heritage" department of the Museum of the East Vladimir Rosov himself became seriously interested in the Roerichs' collection in Zagreb and infected others, for example, specialists from Italy and Switzerland. However, the Croatian side unilaterally abandoned its own initiative without giving any reasons and closed for cooperation with Russian specialists.
Photo: from the catalog of the Moderna galerija museum. Tibetan Camp (1931)
Meanwhile, the "Zagreb" paintings are unique. Yes, there are not many of them, but the plot reversal, sometimes repeated by the master more than once later, the size of the canvases, their color scale and compositional variations allow connoisseurs of Nicholas Roerich's work to say that all these paintings are priceless and certainly worth being placed on permanent exhibition, assessed and included in the catalogs of his work. At the moment, the catalog of Nicholas Roerich's paintings contains seven of the ten "Zagreb" canvases: " Ashram", "Idols "," The Way to Kailash ", "Paranirvana "," Tashiding " and " Teacher's Order ".
And yet, the case was not lost. As you know from an interview on July 16, 2016 with the head of the Croatian diplomatic mission in Russia Igor Pokazom, "negotiations are underway at a high level to hold an exhibition of more than ten works by Nicholas Roerich, which are in Zagreb and have never been exhibited in Russia before ... However, this project had to be temporarily suspended due to insufficient financial resources. "
We add that this project is not only temporarily suspended, but also not brought to the attention of museum workers as intended.
And yet let's hope that not in words, but in deeds in Croatia they want "in Russia to know better the culture of Croatia, and in Croatia - the culture of Russia", and Nicholas Roerich's paintings still visited the homeland of their creator and were exhibited for viewing to everyone who wants to see them with their own eyes, feel their energy, appreciate the texture of the stroke, the play of color and light ...
An exhibition of the outstanding artist Nicholas Roerich has opened in the Benois building of the Russian Museum. The exposition clearly demonstrates the main features of his work: bright decorativeness, a generalized and mythologized view of history and nature, as well as pronounced internationalism.
At the exhibition in the Benois building, visitors will see works of the early, so-called "Russian period" of Roerich's work, as well as canvases and sketches of the Indian period of life, donated to the Russian Museum in 1960 by the artist's eldest son, orientalist Yuri Roerich. In particular, these are “Rocks of Lahula. (Signs of Gesar) "," Nanda-Devi "," Tibet. Monastery "," Glory of the Himalayas "," Treasures of the Snows "," Stupa. Ladak "and others. In total, the exhibition features about 300 works of painting and graphics, including from the funds of the Russian Museum, the Tretyakov Gallery, the Peterhof State Museum-Reserve, Brodsky's Apartment Museum and private collections in St. Petersburg. It is noted that the exhibition surpassed in its scale the exposition of 1974, dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the artist.
The general sponsor of this exhibition is VTB Bank, which has been supporting the projects of the Russian Museum for over 10 years. “The artistic heritage of Nicholas Roerich, a man with an interesting biography, the author of many diverse paintings, who occupies an exceptional place among the figures of Russian and world culture, is grandiose. VTB Bank is pleased to support a large-scale exposition of the works of this outstanding artist in the Russian Museum, which, we are sure, will not leave indifferent either art professionals or connoisseurs of fine art from among Petersburgers or guests of the Northern Capital, Center VTB - Senior Vice President Yuri Levchenko.
For the first time, the public will be able to see many of Roerich's sketches of the late period of his work. They are usually kept in the storerooms of the Russian Museum. Each of the sketches, in terms of the level of artistic performance, is almost a full-fledged painting of a small format. The organizers of the exhibition did a great job collecting them on the walls of the exhibition halls in the form of mosaic panels. Considering the "glow" of Roerich's paintings, such conglomerates of images create the effect of a stained glass window, the creators of the exposition note.
Particular attention is paid to the series of paintings "Heroic Frieze". Previously, they were rarely exhibited due to their large size. The series was created by Roerich in 1910 for the dining room in the house of the merchant and industrialist Philadelph Bazhanov in St. Petersburg. The series consists of seven large panels ("Volga", "Mikula", "Ilya Muromets", "Nightingale the Robber", "Sadko", "Bayan" and "Vityaz"), the total length of which reaches 25.75 meters, as well as 12 smaller canvases. Four parts of this work are on permanent display at the museum, but the entire panel is on display for the first time. Panels of window openings with plant and architectural motifs will also be seen by the general public for the first time.
Evgenia Petrova, deputy director of the Russian Museum for scientific work, notes the most important features of Roerich's painting, in particular, his special interest in archeology and ancient history. “Roerich was especially interested in such topics as the migration of peoples. But we must remember that this is not a story as such, but rather his, reflections on it. It is generally characterized by broad generalizations, mythologizing the past and nature, ”she notes.
The degree of generality of the paintings is such that sometimes it is impossible to understand what kind of area and era are depicted on them. So, Petrova pays special attention to Roerich's 1940 painting "Midnight". “The degree of generalization here is such that it is difficult to understand what exactly is depicted - India or the Russian North,” she notes. On the canvas we see rocks, the surface of the water, boats and a dazzlingly bright crown of light. Colored light columns move, flash and disappear, reminiscent of the northern lights.
The exhibition also features paintings that have long been familiar to the public, in particular, Guests from Overseas, as well as works by Roerich, which formed the basis for the decoration of The Sacred Spring, one of the greatest ballets of all time.
It is important to remember that Roerich is not only a painter, but also an influential fighter for the preservation of cultural monuments. It was he who was the main initiator of the signing of the famous Roerich Pact - an agreement on the protection of artistic and scientific institutions and historical monuments. The Pact is the first international document that is fully dedicated to the protection of cultural property and does not contain a military necessity clause. Roerich emphasized that cultural monuments are not national, but international, and their protection is the business of all mankind. Alas, the provisions of the pact are still very relevant. “We all see that cultural monuments in many countries continue to be destroyed, especially during wartime. In particular, in connection with the events of recent years, such a threat has hung over many cultural objects in Egypt, ”notes Evgenia Petrova.
The exhibition will run until June 2014.
Timofey Tumashevich
Nicholas Roerich: from ballet to Shambhala
The Russian Museum in St. Petersburg shows previously unknown works of the painter
Nicholas Roerich lived like a real yogi: the incredible number of events, places of residence, meetings and discoveries that have happened in his life for 73 years, with the usual rhythm of life, is impossible to capture. Obviously, there were some mystical revelations and energy doping. But it is not recommended to talk about this out loud. The exhibition explores another Roerich, not an esotericist, but an artist.
Everything that he created, Roerich bequeathed to his country
Born into a very prosperous St. Petersburg family, which made friends with Mendeleev, Mikeshin, Kostomarov and other prominent people of that time, Nicholas Roerich remained an amazingly prosperous person throughout his life. Both in personal life and in creativity. “Poor Artist” is not about Nicholas Roerich. He was an odious figure, but endlessly talented. A closed person, but decent. The only Russian who was awarded the title of "Maharishi" by the Hindus, which means "great sage" in Sanskrit. How did he do it? The answer to this question can be given by the artist's retrospective exhibition, which opens on April 9 at the Russian Museum in the Benois building with the support of VTB Bank.
1.40 years later
Exhibition “Nicholas Roerich. 1874-1947 ”opens in the year of the 140th anniversary of Roerich. The last time a similar exhibition dedicated to this artist was held in the Russian Museum was exactly 40 years ago, in 1974. The exhibition is based on about 300 works, most of which are presented by the Russian Museum, whose collection of works by Roerich is considered the largest in the world. Three works were provided by the Tretyakov Gallery. One job - GMZ "Peterhof". Three more - the Research Museum of the Russian Academy of Arts (Museum-Apartment of I.I.Brodsky). And two works arrived in the Benois building from private collections.
Since the exhibition is very large, it presents a retrospective of Roerich's work: from the first works, even as a student in the studio of Arkhip Kuindzhi ("Ukrainian Landscape", 1897, the work was not previously exhibited) to the painting "Remember", written by the artist shortly before his death. The last hall of the huge exposition is dedicated to the early graphic works of Nicholas Roerich.
2. Consider slippers
Nicholas Roerich had two education: legal and artistic. Contemporaries noted his hard work, multiplied by good manners, the ability to find an approach to the interlocutor and personal charm. All this taken together, of course, gave a positive result. Roerich himself and his paintings have always been in the spotlight. They were as much scolded as they were incessantly praised. Be that as it may, but the name of Nikolai Konstantinovich practically from the moment of graduation from the academy was heard all over the world.The artist lacked the so-called strength of the drawing (for which the St. Petersburg school was famous), which he knew and at first tried to correct. But later he decided to compensate for the saturated color of the work. And most importantly, by choosing a topic that no one had developed before. The ancient Slavs, temples, primitive tribes and ancient Russian battles - this is how the artist began his path to glory. The historical trend, in modern terms, was introduced into fashion by Roerich - for the 1890s, the ancient Slavic theme was a novelty. Fascinated by archeology since childhood, a member of the Russian Archaeological Society, who had independently carried out a number of excavations since his student years, Roerich knew well what he was writing, therefore he was extremely reliable in details and at the same time very poetic. Such works as "Idols", "Building a City", "Overseas Guests" set a new fashion in art. Roerich was friends with the master of art criticism Vladimir Stasov, who enthusiastically welcomed the young talent. And the talent did not hesitate, was in active correspondence with Stasov, discussing in detail every detail of his work, even the style of leather slippers on the feet of one of the characters in his picture.“Working with Diaghilev gave the world such masterpieces as the scenery for the Rite of Spring”
Nicholas Roerich's diploma work was the painting "Messenger", which was acquired for his collection by the Moscow collector Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov. Then Stasov recommended his protégé to get acquainted with Leo Tolstoy: "You must certainly visit Tolstoy ... let the great writer of the Russian land himself make you an artist." The meeting really took place, and Tolstoy gave young Roerich advice for life: “Has it ever happened in a boat to cross a fast river? You must always rule above the place where you need it, otherwise it will blow. So in the area of \u200b\u200bmoral requirements, one must always steer higher - life will carry everything. Let your messenger hold the rudder very high, then he will swim! " By the way, later, just like Lev Nikolaevich, Nikolai Konstantinovich will be excommunicated for his religious beliefs.
4. Legend number 19
The focus of the current exhibition is the "Heroic Frieze" created by Roerich in 1910 for the dining room in the house of the merchant and industrialist Philadelph Bazhanov in St. Petersburg. The frieze on a heroic theme consists of seven large panels ("Volga", "Mikula", "Ilya Muromets", "Nightingale the Robber", "Sadko", "Bayan" and "Vityaz"), the total length of which reaches 25.75 meters ... In addition to them, the frieze has 12 smaller canvases. Four parts of this work hang in the permanent exhibition of the museum, but the entire panel is on display for the first time. Why isn't it on display in full? The answer is prosaic. The problem is the size. The central canvas - "Sadko" (2x7 m) - is difficult to place in the hall. So to see the entire frieze in its entirety is a great success and a rarity. In addition, for the first time after the restoration, a fragment of the frieze "Settlement" is exhibited. 5. Life is a theater
Nicholas Roerich was a patriot and did not want to leave his country. His emigration was forced. In 1916, due to a lung disease, at the insistence of doctors, the artist and his family - his wife Elena and two sons - moved to Finland. After the 1917 revolution, the border was closed and Roerich was cut off. So began his journey as an emigrant: first an exhibition tour in Scandinavia, then in England, in London, later in the USA, where he earned a reputation as an art guru, and then in India, where he ended his life.In 1919, Roerich received an invitation from Sergei Diaghilev to work on the design of Russian operas to the music of M.P. Mussorgsky and A.P. Borodin. So one of the paintings, painted at the height of the First World War, in 1916, "Three Joys" - became a sketch of theatrical scenery. Roerich only removed people from the canvas.
Working with Diaghilev has given the world such masterpieces as the scenery for The Rite of Spring, booed at the premiere for innovation.
A separate part of the exposition is devoted to the theater period (relatively speaking) at the exhibition in the Russian Museum. There are sketches of costumes for the Snow Maiden and Santa Claus for the play The Snow Maiden to the music of Rimsky-Korsakov (1922), which “blew up” the Chicago auditorium, and a sketch for Sister Beatrice by Maeterlinck (Musical Drama Theater, later BDT), a sketch of the scenery for the production Moscow Art Theater "Peer Gynt" (1912) ...
6. In search of Shambhala
In 1923, Nicholas Roerich's spiritual quest led him to Bombay. In 1928, he bought a house in India and never left this country. It was here that he turned from a public figure into a political one (which in the 1990s gave rise to many yellow newspapers in new Russia to call Roerich an employee of the KGB). He advocated the unification of Eastern and Western Buddhists.The exhibition in the Russian Museum deliberately avoids the theme of occultism, with which the name of Roerich is inextricably linked. However, it is impossible not to say about his search for Shambhala, the mystical land of great sages. It was the search for Shambhala that became the real reason for the Central Asian expedition organized by Roerich."Nicholas Roerich became the only Russian who was awarded the title of" Maharishi "by the Hindus, which means" great sage "in Sanskrit."
However, in spite of spiritual throwing, social activities and two nominations for the Nobel Prize for the so-called Roerich Pact, Nicholas Roerich never stopped working as a painter. The exhibition presents his "Himalayan cycle" (which in total consisted of about 2000 works). But the real event of the exposition can be called a series of his Tibetan sketches: almost all, several dozen tempera sketches, are exhibited for the first time.
7. End of the path
After the end of World War II, Nicholas Roerich applied for a visa to the Soviet Union: he really wanted to return to his homeland. Almost all of his things were packed and ready for transportation when on December 13, 1947 he was gone. And soon after that, a visa refusal arrived at Roerich's Indian address, which he, fortunately, did not wait for.According to Roerich's will, his ashes were scattered. In the Kullu valley, on the site of the funeral pyre, a large rectangular stone was erected with the inscription: “On December 15, 1947, the body of Maharishi Nicholas Roerich, the great Russian friend of India, was burnt here. Let there be peace. "
The artist's heritage contains about 7000 works. Everything that he created, Roerich bequeathed to his country. Therefore, when the widow of the artist Helena Roerich died, their son Yuri returned from India to the Soviet Union and brought with him all of his father's heritage. The second son of Nicholas and Helena Roerich, Svyatoslav, remained to live in India. The Roerich family was interrupted: neither Yuri nor Svyatoslav had children.