http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2009/russian-paintings-day-sale-l09672/lot.351.html
RUSSIAN PAINTINGS DAY SALE
10 JUNE 2009 | 10:00 AM BST
LONDON
351
PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION, FRANCE
Estimate 10,000 — 15,000 GBP
LOT SOLD. 51,650 GBP
Nikolai Konstantinovich Roerich
1874-1947
ABOVE THE CLOUDS, HIMALAYAS
signed with the artist's monogram l.r.
tempera and black crayon on paper
image size: 13.5 by 21.2cm., 5 1/2 by 8 1/2 in.
PROVENANCE
Arkady Roumanoff (1878-1960), Paris
Thence by descent
CATALOGUE NOTE
It is probable that this work was executed after 1935.
Works by Nikolai Roerich from the Collection of Arkady Roumanoff
Lots 350-351
Originally educated as a lawyer, Arkady Veniaminovich Roumanoff (1878-1960) made his name in pre-Revolutionary St. Petersburg as a journalist, writer and critic and director of the publications Niva and Russkoe slovo. Roumanoff was a member of literary and artistic circles and a great patron of contemporary artists of Russia's so-called Silver Age, building up an important collection of his own. However the 'Red Terror' of 1917 forced him to emigrate to England and then France, leaving behind his valuable library and Russian art collection, which included works by Alexander Benois, Mikhail Vrubel, Igor Grabar and Nikolai Roerich. In 1920 the collection was nationalised and most of it, including Nathan Altman's iconic portrait of Anna Akhmatova, transferred to the State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg.
Roumanoff had known Roerich in St. Petersburg and sought his advice when forming his collection. Their friendship lasted long into emigration, as Roumanoff continued to acquire works by artists who had, like him, settled in the West. The following two Himalayan landscapes by Roerich from Roumanoff's collection come to auction directly from his descendants.
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