NIKOLAI ROERICH (RUSSIAN 1874-1947)

NIKOLAI ROERICH (RUSSIAN 1874-1947)
Secrets of the Walls, 1920
tempera and pastel on canvas
50.5 x 76 cm (19 7/8 x 30 in.)
monogrammed lower left

PROVENANCE
Collection of John T. Spaulding, Boston, 1920s
Private Collection, California, until 1957
Private Collection, acquired from the above
Sotheby's, New York, April 21-22, 2009, lot 44
Acquired at the above by the present owner

EXHIBITED
Kingor Galleries, New York, December 1920-January 1921
Boston Art Club, Boston, February 1921

LITERATURE
Christian Brinton, The Nicholas Roerich Exhibition (New York, 1921), ex. cat., no. 174
Corona Mundi International Art Center, Roerich (New York: Corona Mundi International Art Center, 1924), pl. [35] (illustrated)
Grant, Frances R., et al., Roerich. Himalaya. A Monograph (New York: Bretano's, 1926), p. 198
Elena Yakovleva, N.K. Roerich's Theater and Decorative Art (Czech Republic, 1996), p. 70 (illustrated)

LOT NOTES
The composition of Secrets of the Walls is nearly devoid of human presence, with the two lone figures dwarfed by the stern edges of the fortress and the promise of mountainous wilderness beyond its gates. As observed by Liudmila Korotkina, nature, in [Roerich's] mind, is inseparably linked with human activities (see: Nicolay Roerich, (Leningdrad: Aurora, 1976), p. 6). The man-made landscape, in its pathetic fallacy, appears victorious in its ability to endure over generations of men passing by its walls. The bold combinations of burnt oranges and sparkling yellows contrast with the plum purples, showing the living fortress bathed in the midday sun.