John McCannon - Nicholas Roerich: The Artist Who Would Be King

459

Star of the Hero (i932), 364

Starry Runes (i9i2), i34

The Steed of Happiness (i925—i926, "Maitreya" series), 563^

The Stone Age (i9i0), i34

The Summoned (i9i6), i79

Sviatogor (2 variants, i938, i942), 457, 466

Sviatopolk the Damned (ca. i893), 25

Sword of Gesar (i943), 460

Sword of Valor (i9i2), i35

The Tale of the Invisible City of Kitezh, designs for (i9ii),

i32—33; "Battle of Kerzhenets" curtain, i32, i74 Terra Slavonica (i943), 47i They Are Building a Town (i902), 58, 62, 64 They Are Building Boats (i903), 64, 66 The Three Joys (i9i6), i78, i94 The Three Magi, designs for (i907), i06, i32 The Thrice-Tenth Kingdom (i940), 464 "Tibetan Path" series (ca. i924), 260 The Time Has Come (i926), 302, 365 Tomb of the Giant (i9i5), i79 Tower of Fear (i939), 459

The Tragedy of Judas, Prince of Iscariot, designs for ^909, unrealized), i07

Treasure of the Angels (1905), 73, 86, 117 (111. 8), 2:3, 253

Treasure of the Snows (1940), 464

Treasure of the World—Chintamini (1924, "His Country" series), 260

Tristan and Isolde, designs for (i9i2—i9i4, unrealized), i45 Tristan and Isolde, designs for (i92i, unrealized), 223—24, 238 Tsar Saltan, designs for (1919, unrealized), 206

Vaidelotka (1913), 167 Vaidelotka at Prayer (ca. 1893), 25

The Valkyries, designs for (i907—i908, unrealized), i06

The Varangian in Tsargrad (i895), 33

Vasilisa the Beautiful (1942), 466

Vision (1923, "Messiah" series), 238

Voice of Mongolia (1937), 452

Walled Strongholds (1925—1926, "Maitreya" series), 563^9 Warrior of Pskov (ca. 1893), 25

Whispers of the Desert (Tale of the New Era) (1925—1926,

"Maitreya" series), 563^9 White Lady (i9i9), 2ii The Wisdom of Manu (1917), 179

Yaroslavna'sLament (1893), 25 Yaroslav the Wise (1941 or 1942), 466

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A prodigious amount of material has been written about (and by) the Roerichs. So

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Initially, Roerich strove to emulate histo­ry painting as practiced by the dominant artistic school in Russia: the Wanderers, who had defined themselves in opposition to the establishment, only to become the establishment over time. In 1863, fourteen academy students, weary of the neoclas­sical conventions that governed Russian painting, dropped out to form a loose

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Roerich spent so much time designing for the theater during these years, it is easy to forget how much easel work he did. He ex­hibited at least two or three times annually, both abroad and in Russia.⁵¹ Shows took his work to Brussels, for the 1910 Univer­sal Exposition, to Austria-Hungary, and to London's Second Post-Impressionist Exhibition, where Russians enjoyed a huge success in 1912. He was in Paris three times:

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A crucial episode in this transformation unfolded between 1909 and 1915, as Ro­erich worked with the Saint Petersburg Temple Commission, which oversaw the

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A rougher-hewn sacrality came to the fore that fall, as Roerich turned again to The Rite of Spring. Early in the year, there had been a flicker of hope that the Ballets Russes would include The Rite in its 1912 season. In March, an optimistic Stravinsky, pleased with his progress on act 2, spoke to his brother Andrei about the possibility of a 1912 premiere and wrote Roerich to say, "I think I have penetrated the secret of spring's lapidary rhythms and have felt them coupled with the dramatis personae of our child."¹²⁰ That month, though, Diaghilev scrapped

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Stage design did not go as well as easel work. With The Rite behind him, Roerich

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Even with a war on, the fall of 1914 found Roerich back at the IOPKh School. Dete­riorating material conditions and the loss of male students to the front made it a strug­gle to keep the school open, but Roerich

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In a matter of days, though, Roerich was taken out of the fight. He grew sicker in July and, for the next several months, could no longer travel to Petrograd. In August, with great sorrow, he stepped down as director of the IOPKh School, a post he had held for eleven years. The school's health was

•^••

Roerich hinted at his future direction in a letter from this time to Ivan Bilibin, who had written from Cairo, seeking advice about whether he should remain in Egypt or go back to Europe. Roerich suggested to Bilibin that he put the West behind him. "There, the twilight of the gods is drawing

•^••

Failure in Manchuria was not the only trou­ble weighing Roerich down as he trudged on to Tientsin. Bad news had been arriving from New York, Washington, and Paris.

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The first eight months of 1939 were re­plete with anxiety for millions throughout the globe. Springtime brought with it the German occupation of rump Czechoslo­vakia and the Lithuanian port of Memel, as well as Italy's conquest of Albania. Over

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