http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2005/the-russian-sale-l05111/lot.138.html
THE RUSSIAN SALE
01 DECEMBER 2005 | 10:00 AM GMT
LONDON
138
Estimate 50,000 — 70,000 GBP
LOT SOLD. 125,600 GBP
Nikolai Konstantinovich Roerich, 1874-1947
1874-1947
MONEGHAN, MAINE FROM THE 'OCEAN' SERIES
tempera on canvas
56 by 84cm., 22 by 33in.
EXHIBITED
Corona Mundi International Art Center, New York, 1922
LITERATURE
Roerich, New York: Corona Mundi, 1924(illustrated)
CATALOGUE NOTE
In 1920 Roerich and his family were invited to visit America by the Chicago Art Institute. The ‘Ocean’ series was painted on Monhegan Island, Maine, where the family spent the summer.
‘[Roerich] was especially drawn to Maine, where the rocky shoreline, steep mossy cliffs, and endless expanse of sea and sky reminded him of Finland and of his native Russian landscape. […] The powerful impact of the rugged Maine coast on him is felt in the spare, bold style of these canvases.’ (J.Decter, Nicholas Roerich: The Life and Artof a Russian Master, London: Thames and Hudson, 1989, p116)
Roerich presented the world to his viewers in such a way that they could become attuned to its underlying meanings. This is true of the Ocean series: the landscapes are pared-down to a near abstract level, encouraging the viewer to look for patterns in order to make sense of them and discover the ‘unknown treasures’, which he believed modern Man had lost the ability to see.
The vaporous, intangible quality of these works also point to an increasingly spiritual approach to Roerich’s landscape painting, which would develop as a result of his voyage to India the following year.
>>
