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SALE 1821
Russian Paintings and Works of Art
New York
18 April 2007
LOT 83
Nikolai Konstantinovich Roerich (1874-1947)
Grand Canyon, Arizona
Price realised
USD 420,000
Estimate
USD 300,000 - USD 400,000
Tempera on canvas
19¾ x 29¾ in. (50.5 x 76 cm.)
Painted circa 1921
Provenance
Roerich Museum Collection, 1924-1935.
Louis Horch Collection, New York, circa 1935.
By descent to the present owner.
Literature
Roerich Museum Catalogue. 8th ed. New York: Roerich Museum, 1930, No. 206.
Post-Lot Text
Shortly after arriving to the USA Roerich embarked on the trip to New Mexico and Arizona. The present painting is one of the several views of the Grand Canyon made by Roerich in the summer of 1921 while he traveled in the southwest of the United States. One of the seven natural wonders of the world, Grand Canyon of Arizona, left a deep and lasting impression on the artist. The painting is probably depicting an Isis Temple, large pyramidal intricately eroded rock formation famous for its spectacular colors at sunrise. Named after the Egyptian goddess, the natural temple has an elevation of seven thousand twenty-eight feet and is formed as a spiral. Ever-changing daylight colors the mountain in a variety of brilliant hues: from light pink to deep lapis blue.
In his "List of Paintings, 1917-1924" there are several entries that might correspond to this painting: Arizona, Studies of Arizona (three paintings), and Blue Temples, Canyon (two paintings).
We would like to thank Gvido Trepsha of the Nicholas Roerich Museum for his assistance in cataloguing the present lot.
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