Small Museums of NYC - Nicholas Roerich Museum
The Art & Life of Russian-born Painter, Peace Activist & Mystic
Sep 9, 2009
The Nicholas Roerich Museum is housed in an elegant townhouse on a quiet street in Manhattan's Morningside Heights neighborhood. Three floors of the house, including the grand stairwells, are hung with paintings, giving the visitor a clear sense of the painter's extraordinary vision as well as his life and place in history.
Early Work: the Russian Avant-Garde
Born in St. Petersburg, Russia in 1874, Roerich studied both painting and law, while nurturing a lifelong interest in archeology and religion. His early landscapes employed a powerfully modern approach to color as a way of exploring Russia’s prehistoric past. Roerich’s work was embraced by the Russian intelligentsia, and he became a key player in the dynamic avant-garde movements that were breaking new ground in painting, music, dance, literature, and theater.
Roerich and the Theater: Scenic and Costume Design
After being asked by Diaghilev, founder of the Ballets Russes, to design sets and costumes for Rimsky- Korsakov’s Ivan the Terrible, Roerich entered an extraordinarily fruitful period of theatrical collaboration. In addition to Diaghilev, collaborators included Moussorgsky, Borodin, Maeterlinck, Nijinsky, and Igor Stravinsky. Stravinsky’s wildly controversial The Rite of Spring (Le Sacre du Printemps) sprang from an idea of Roerich, who collaborated closely on the libretto and designed sets and costumes. Many designs are on display in the Roerich Museum.
In 1915, Roerich left Russia. He was physically ill and aware of the signs pointing to the Russian Revolution. He and his young family lived in Scandinavia and Europe before finding their way to New York.
Roerich and the Himalayas: A Mystical Landscape
From 1923 until his death in 1947, Roerich and his wife traveled extensively in uncharted areas of the Himalayas, studying culture and religion. They eventually established an Institute in the Kullu Valley. Many of the paintings in the Roerich Museum reflect the enormous spiritual and visual influence of the region. Buddhist stories and symbols mingle with the richly textured iconography of Russian Orthodox Christianity in Roerich’s depictions of saints, wise men, and spiritual journeyers.
The high mountains and dramatic terrain of Tibet, Nepal, and India figure again and again in his richly colored, often highly symbolic landscapes. "Just like the paintings of the artist Nicholas Roerich," astronaut Yuri Gagarin is reported to have said of the astonishing view from space.
The Roerich Pact: Peace Through Culture
After the devastation of World War I and the Russian Revolution, Roerich advocated passionately for an international pact to protect museums and cultural treasures during times of war. He called his mission Pax Cultura, or peace through culture, and worked tirelessly through the early 1930s to create an agreement that was eventually signed by 36 nations.
The Museum embodies Roerich’s belief in a synthesis of the arts by offering a regular series of musical performances and poetry readings throughout the year. On any afternoon, a visitor may be lucky enough to hear the house fill with the sounds of Schubert or Stravinsky, as talented young musicians rehearse amidst the art for an upcoming concert.
Visiting the Nicholas Roerich Museum
The Nicholas Roerich Museum is located at 319 West 107th Street. It is open every afternoon from 2-5 p.m. Admission is by donation. Postcards and reproductions are for sale on the first floor.
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