N.K. Roerich

Oh, 1914. Apollo.  (HL No. 4, 1914

N.K. R and x. Workshop. Book one. Publishing house I.D. Sytin. M.1914 1.50 k.

I am surprised by the first page.  "From the publisher."  “The prophecies of those few lovers of our ancient beauty who alone believed that we would grow younger in olden times are coming true. Of these visionaries, perhaps the most significant must be recognized by the artist N. Roerich.

Of course, it is very dangerous now, and most importantly, it is absolutely unnecessary to raise the issue of  "places"  on  "discovery"  Old Russian beauty. Especially when it comes to subjective  "in love"  In the old days, we will have to push the question of primacy far into the past. Let's at least remember.  "love" circle of artists associated with the name of Princess M.K. Tenisheva and her village "Talashkino", then - about Surikov, V. Vasnetsov, Mr. Gagarin ... And finally – about the eternally ahead of all – A. Ivanov. If we argue about who was the miraculous surgeon who opened the eyes of wide artistic circles to the domestic icon, then perhaps the most important role was played here by French art and its modern representatives.Of course, we are not talking about the admiration of Maurice Denis, Matisse, Rishpen in the Moscow icon collections – we think that this would be too little for us – these persons only expressed the understanding of beauty that brought up in them (and then in us) the latest achievements of Romanesque creativity. After  "discovery"  Japanese, Western primitives, the transition to  The "discovery" of primitives is both natural and necessary.

But putting aside the too controversial issue of a parochial character, we recognize the great interest and value of the first collection of literary works of Nicholas Roerich.  Despite the fact that here the fruits of 21 years of work, scattered through various magazines and newspapers, are collected.

 The collection gives an impression of integrity, and most importantly – very  (c) That's right.  Some issues - burning now - are touched upon in it sharply and peculiarly. The originality, first of all, the very syllable of the book, however, is sometimes heavy, especially due to the unusual arrangement of words - Prayers for antiquity, but in most cases allowing the author to express his thoughts briefly and figuratively.

The main interest of the book is based, in our opinion, on those pages where Nicholas Roerich reveals his understanding of ancient Russian art. Now, when all Russian artistic thought rushed to the icon, everyone is important to us.  "special"  And of course, the artist's approach is all the more important - for many years and a great love has been devoted to penetrating this dark and huge area.

We could be told  hypothetical  The nature of many conclusions of Nicholas Roerich; indeed, historically they are often not sufficiently substantiated, dictated more by love than by reason, the dream of an amateur and an artist than a professional. But it is possible that the instinct of the artist will suddenly open us a joyous path where archaeology only stomped and confused, complicating the tracks! That is why, we repeat, every sincere attempt, every approach to the icon is precious to us now.   It's art. And that's why it's so serious.   I'm sorry.   The words-puzzles of the artist deserve attention - about the antiquity and highness of culture, which gave rise to Kiev during the time of Yaroslav (p.125-129), - that through Byzantium, through its enamel, India dreamed to us, "that the study of India, its art, everyday life will be the nearest aspiration" (p.260) - and, finally, it is very necessary to listen to the artist's complaints about the archaeological clearing of temple paintings (a number of articles: Savior Nereditsky, Restorations, Church of Elijah the Prophet in Yaroslavl, quiet pogroms ... (: "The Church of Ivan the Forerunners washed inside: cleaned so fiercely that they demolished all the delicate ones" (188) What if gAre the protests dictated by the artist’s true instinct? What if archaeologists in their zeal to get to the most recent and ancient layer washed away?  What about the last blows of the hand? And we have come from one of the worst of sins. In exchange for the murals, smeared by later masters, we were presented with smears to the painting. And I persistently want to repeat after N. Roerich that it is impossible to  "to touch painting without a painter" (p. 176), one cannot think - if the icon is the creation of art - that the magnifying glass of a paleographer and an archaeologist can give us the truest interpretation of ancient Russian creativity. Just as in a picture the whole meaning of its existence often consists in some inexplicable tone, in some inexplicable formula of persuasiveness, so in the understanding of antiquity there is much that does not fit into speech, there is much that is only possible.   c c c c p and n and t   (p.77) p. 7.

Undoubtedly, science plays a huge and difficult role in the study of antiquity, and much valuable has already accumulated, but much more remains ahead of the work.  herself   p.78, the most responsible ... Here, again, we repeat, each  quiz  flair  The love of the artist is important to us: it infuses into the study a lively trepidation, which is absolutely necessary for us since we realized that we are dealing with problems.   And in you          And c c c c c m m m m , and not only with the remains of vanished life.