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Dimensions: measurements 18 1/2 by 33 in. alternate measurements 47 by 84 cm
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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
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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
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Notes: We would like to thank Gvido Trepša, Senior Researcher, Nicholas Roerich Museum, New York, for providing additional catalogue information.
PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION, UNITED STATES
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.
