Nikolai Roerich in the Captivity of the Mountains

Nikolai Konstantinovich Roerich — a Russian painter, philosopher, writer, stage designer, archaeologist, and traveler. Author of the Roerich Pact, which established legal protection and preservation of cultural monuments worldwide.

Nikolai Roerich's life was exceptionally full: a carefree childhood, years of intensive study, travels, scientific activity, emigration and years of wandering.
Nikolai was born on October 9, 1874, in the family of notary Konstantin Fyodorovich and merchant's daughter Maria Vasilievna. The family hosted formal dinners, whose frequent guests included the famous chemist Dmitri Mendeleev, the historian Nikolai Kostomarov, and the painter Mikhail Mikeshin. Mikeshin became young Nikolai's first drawing teacher.

The artist's father did not share his son's desire to devote his life to art and insisted on a legal education. Nikolai found a way out: he enrolled simultaneously in the law and the historical-philological faculties of the State University and in the Repin Academy of Arts, in the class of Arkhip Kuindzhi. Despite the lack of time, he still managed to take part in archaeological excavations. The artist's diploma work "The Messenger" was purchased by the patron Tretyakov; Roerich was rewarded with a trip across Europe and taken on an internship with well-known French masters. It was then that he met Elena Shaposhnikova — his future wife. Nikolai Roerich actively exhibited in Russia and abroad, participated in Diaghilev's famous "Russian Seasons" in Paris, became known as an academic researcher of ancient Russian icon painting and architecture, and as the chairman of "Mir iskusstva" (World of Art).

In the pre-revolutionary period, having faced hardships and privations and having contracted chronic pneumonia in damp, windy Petersburg, the Roerichs moved to Karelia. There he painted many works, inspired by Karelian landscapes and local mythology. In 1919, after the revolution, he moved to London. There the Roerichs' financial problems became even greater. Nikolai took a job as a theatrical set designer, but money was still scarce, and moreover his paintings did not sell.

An unexpected ray of light was the artist's wife Elena's fascination with esotericism. The Roerichs became acquainted with members of Blavatsky's Theosophical Society and became active participants. The "brothers and sisters" helped emigrants as best they could. It was here that Nikolai Roerich was inspired to realize his long-held dream — to go to India with a scientific expedition, with opportunities to carry out archaeological excavations and to paint exotic landscapes.

Soon, at the invitation of friends, the Roerichs moved to America, where they planned to hold a series of exhibitions. There the family quickly established connections with local theosophists and soon met the wealthy stockbroker Louis Horch. Horch became an admirer of Nikolai Roerich's work and spiritual riches and purchased a large number of his paintings, regarding Roerich as his spiritual teacher. The family finally had solid ground under their feet. They organized an International Center of Arts, which served as an organization for the protection of cultural monuments, created the Agni Yoga School and several concessions for the extraction of mineral resources in Soviet Russia. But most importantly, Nikolai Roerich finally received funding for the expedition he desired.

From 1923 the Roerichs made attempts to enter Tibet, a territory closed to outsiders, but this remained a dream. However, during the years of attempts many adventures were undertaken: months living among snow-capped mountains, captivity, letters to the Dalai Lama, a short trip to Moscow, journeys to Altai, Mongolia, India and China. Over five years of expeditions the artist accumulated a wealth of material — more than 500 sketches, ethnographic observations, and field diaries. Despite failing plans to visit Shambhala, the American sponsors were satisfied with the results and became sponsors for the creation of the Himalayan Research Institute "Urusvati." The institute, located in the Kulu valley in the foothills of the Himalayas, served as a base from which Roerich went out to make studies and painted many of his most famous works, including pieces based on earlier sketches.

Nikolai Roerich. Guga Chokhan. 1933. International Center-Museum named after N.K. Roerich, Moscow

Enjoying a peaceful course of life, he corresponded with numerous public figures, among whom were Franklin Roosevelt, H.G. Wells and Albert Einstein. As the author of the Pact for the Protection of Cultural Values, Nikolai Roerich was nominated for the Nobel Prize, and Louis Horch dedicated a skyscraper, the "Master Building," in New York to his guru.

The bright period of the artist's life ended with the onset of the stock market crisis of the 1930s and was exacerbated after Roerich became involved in political squabbles and supported Russian emigrants. The White Guards alleged in the press that with U.S. money sponsored to Roerich in Japan, communist propaganda was being conducted, and they also claimed there were military preparations for Roerich's expedition on Mongolia's borders.

The American sponsors felt deceived. As a result the artist's patrons turned away from him: all Roerich institutions in America were abolished, huge fines were imposed on him, and entry to the United States was banned. Deprived of funds, the Urusvati Institute had to be closed. Returning home also proved impossible — Moscow refused to receive the artist.

Thus the former Urusvati Institute in the Himalayas became the final refuge of Nikolai Roerich. On the stone installed at the site of Nikolai Roerich's burial there is an inscription which states that here the great artist attained samadhi — a state of absolute tranquility preceding nirvana.