Острова. Ладога
1918

http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2008/russian-art-n08428/lot.87.html

RUSSIAN ART

15 APRIL 2008 - 16 APRIL 2008 | 10:00 AM EDT

NEW YORK

87

PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION, UNITED STATES

Estimate 300,000 — 400,000 USD

LOT SOLD. 601,000 USD

Nicholas Roerich

1874-1947

RUSSIAN

ISLANDS. LAKE LADOGA, 1918

signed with artist's monogram and dated 1918 (lower right)

tempera on board

18 1/2 by 33 in.

47 by 84 cm

We would like to thank Gvido Trepša, Senior Researcher, Nicholas Roerich Museum, New York, for providing additional catalogue information.

PROVENANCE

Roerich Museum, New York (acquired directly from the artist in 1923)

Collection of Louis & Nettie Horch, New York (acquired from the above in 1935)

Brandeis University, Waltham, MA

Acquired from the above by the present owner

EXHIBITED

Brooklyn, The Brooklyn Museum, The Nicholas Roerich Exhibition, 1920-1922, no. 54

LITERATURE

Christian Brinton, The Nicholas Roerich Exhibition, Brooklyn, 1920-1922, no. 54

Corona Mundi International Art Center, Roerich, 1924, pl. 21, illustrated

Roerich Museum, Roerich Museum Catalogue, 1930, no. 54

CATALOGUE NOTE

Roerich executed this work in Vyborg in 1918. He spent most of 1917 and 1918 near Lake Ladoga, and this is undoubtedly one of the finest paintings of his entire Karelia period. While there, he survived a life-threatening illness and witnessed destruction and chaos in his homeland and in Europe. Most of the works of this period are observations of nature, somewhat detached and emotionless. This composition evokes the first glimpses of the new Roerich, replenished by the monumental and serene energy of the North. The composition is dramatic in its foreground, both in line and color, but perfectly balanced by the calm, distant contours in the background, rounded by the eternal flow of time. The sky, so often dull and lifeless in Karelia paintings, is here alive again, with turbulent patches of clouds contrasting against the peaceful mountainous horizon.