Гималаи из Тинг-Кье-Дзонга. # 18
1928

2010

http://www.bonhams.com/auctions/17862/lot/71/

Lot 71*

£ 80,000 - 100,000

RUB 6,600,000 - 8,300,000

THE RUSSIAN SALE

1 Dec 2010, 10:00 GMT

LONDON, NEW BOND STREET

Nikolai Konstantinovich Roerich (Russian, 1874-1947)

Himalayas, from Ting-kye Dzong, 1928

numbered (on verso) 'N 18' and dated '1928' by the artist; verso further applied with Roerich Museum label inscribed 17 Himalayas by Nicholas Roerich/849

tempera on canvas laid on board

33 x 41cm (13 x 16 1/8in).

FOOTNOTES

PROVENANCE

Roerich Museum, New York, 1928-1935

Nettie & Louis Horch collection, New York

Acquired from the above by the present owner in mid 1970s

EXHIBITED

Roerich Museum, New York (permanent collection), 1928-1935, no. 849

LITERATURE

Roerich Museum Catalogue, New York: Roerich Museum, 1930. p.33

The present lot was executed in Darjeeling, India, where Nicholas Roerich and his expedition party arrived at the end of May after crossing Mongolia and Tibet from north to south. He stayed in Darjeeling until December, recording his impressions from the journey in several dozen works.

The expedition passed through Ting-kye, a Tibetan area close to the Sikkim border, on May 13th, 1928 and rested there for an entire day. They camped on the eastern shore of a lake that opens up to the white Himalayan peaks that we see in the background. The artist's son, George Roerich, remarks that they stayed 'at the former camping place of the Mount Everest Expedition' and also that the area 'had had an exceptionally snowy winter...and many people had perished on the passes across the Himalayas...the high passes south of Ting-kye were still impassable.' (Trails to Inmost Asia, 484)

The painting is characteristic of Roerich's ability to turn a mountain landscape into a symbol of life's grandeur and beauty offering a glimpse into what he loved to call the 'super mundane'. He used only a dozen or so lines to take us back to the time when the Himalayas were still an idea in the mind of the creator, abstractions of towering peaks before they solidified into stone and ice. One can recognise this particular viewpoint in the photo taken by a member of the expedition, and it helps us understand why Roerich became known as a 'master of mountains'. Flat planes of earth slope downward to condense the space between the viewer and mountain range, making it both remote and immediately accessible. At the same time, the two interlocking outlines that converge at the base of the mountains keep the composition in perfect balance. Roerich extracts and emphasises this centre point from the natural landscape, marking a clear path for his journey into the mountains.

We are grateful to Gvido Trepša, Senior Researcher, Nicholas Roerich Museum, New York for his assistance in preparing this catalogue entry.

2016

http://www.bonhams.com/auctions/23438/lot/50/

Lot 50*

NIKOLAI KONSTANTINOVICH ROERICH

(1874-1947)

Himalayas from Ting-kye Dzong, 1928 33 x 41cm (13 x 16 1/8in).

£60,000 - 80,000

RUB 4,800,000 - 6,400,000

THE RUSSIAN SALE

15:00 GMT

LONDON, NEW BOND STREET

Nikolai Konstantinovich Roerich (1874-1947)

Himalayas from Ting-kye Dzong, 1928

numbered (on verso) 'N 18' and dated '1928' by the artist; verso further applied with Roerich Museum label inscribed 17 Himalayas by Nicholas Roerich/849

tempera on canvas laid on board

33 x 41cm (13 x 16 1/8in).

FOOTNOTES

Provenance

Roerich Museum, New York, 1928-1935

Nettie & Louis Horch collection, New York

Acquired from the above by the present owner in mid 1970s

Exhibited

Roerich Museum, New York (permanent collection), 1928-1935, no. 849

Literature

Roerich Museum Catalogue, New York: Roerich Museum, 1930. p.33

The present lot was executed in Darjeeling, India, where Nicholai Roerich and his expedition party arrived at the end of May after crossing Mongolia and Tibet from north to south. He stayed in Darjeeling until December, recording his impressions from the journey in several dozen works.

The expedition passed through Ting-kye, a Tibetan area close to the Sikkim border, on May 13th, 1928 and rested there for an entire day. They camped on the eastern shore of a lake that opens up to the white Himalayan peaks that we see in the background. The artist's son, George Roerich, remarks that they stayed 'at the former camping place of the Mount Everest Expedition' and also that the area 'had had an exceptionally snowy winter...and many people had perished on the passes across the Himalayas...the high passes south of Ting-kye were still impassable.' (Trails to Inmost Asia, 484)

The painting is characteristic of Roerich's ability to turn a mountain landscape into a symbol of life's grandeur and beauty offering a glimpse into what he loved to call the 'super mundane'. He used only a dozen or so lines to take us back to the time when the Himalayas were still an idea in the mind of the creator, abstractions of towering peaks before they solidified into stone and ice. One can recognize this particular viewpoint in the photo taken by a member of the expedition, and it helps us understand why Roerich became known as a 'master of mountains'. Flat planes of earth slope downward to condense the space between the viewer and mountain range, making it both remote and immediately accessible. At the same time, the two interlocking outlines that converge at the base of the mountains keep the composition in perfect balance. Roerich extracts and emphasizes this centre point from the natural landscape, marking a clear path for his journey into the mountains.

We are grateful to Gvido Trepša, Executive Director, Nicholas Roerich Museum, New York for his assistance in preparing this catalogue entry.