n 1915 nicholai Konstantinovich RoeRichbecame ill with pneumonia and was ordered by his doctor to convalesce with his family in sortavala, Finland (then part of the Russian empire, under the Grand Duchy of Finland). however, by 1917 a return to Russia had become problematic due to the

onset of the revolution, and Roerich and his family remained in newly independent Finland, where he began working as an émigré artist. it was here in 1918, on the island of tulolansari,¹ that Roerich painted The Rain Fairy.

in an early monograph of the artist, nina selivanova describes the present work: ‘very soft grey misty tones predominate in Rain Fairy,

while in the background blue hills with a greenish tint stand out; on one side the grey clouds seem to part reveling [sic] a golden one in the form of the rain fairy’.² the work is typical of Roerich’s Finnish paintings, where panoramic landscapes are broken down and delineated by large swathes of cool colour. the narrative devices, in this case the rain fairy, become subservient to the depiction of landscape and the conveyance of atmosphere. in the present work the fairy is positioned in the upper right hand corner melding into the clouds, and Roerich’s primary aim seems to be to capture the awe-inspiring, yet tranquil beauty of the Karelian landscape. similar techniques can be seen in the Eques Æternus series, painted in the same year. in The Knight of the Morning, see figure 1,

NIKOLAI KONSTANTINOVICH

ROERICH (St. Petersburg 1874 - Nagar, India 1947)

The Rain Fairy

signed with monogram (lower right); verso with c.M.a. (corona Mundi acquisitions) label inscribed '312.22/2'; and inscribed with pencil ’29,’’85,’ and with various other characters;

inscribed on a label on the frame ‘150’painted in 1918 in Finland

tempera on board 75.5 x 75.5 cm (29¾ x 29¾ in)

with pencil and ink sketch on the reverse for the painting The Enchanted City

Provenance: nicholas Roerich Museum, 1923–1935;probably Rudolf steiner school, Great Barrington, Massachusetts;

anonymous sale, christies, 24 oct 2002, lot 29, as Knight of the Morning;Private collection, UK.

Literature: Spells of Russia by Nicolas Roerich, exh. cat. Goupil Gallery, london, 1920, p.5, no. 23;n. Jarintsov, ‘nicholas K. Roerich’, in The Studio (april 1920) p.6;

christian Brinton, The Nicolas Roerich Exhibition, exh. cat., new York, 1920-1921-1922, no. 150;Catalogue Nicolas Roerich Exhibition, san Francisco city Museum of art, 1921, p. 20, no. 150;

nina selivanova, The World of Roerich (corona Mundi, new York, 1922), p.107;Roerich Museum Catalogue (sixth edition, new York, 1930), p. 16, no. 150;

a. Yaremenko, Nicholai Konstantinovich Roerich. His Life and Creations During the Past Forty Years, 1889–1929 (new York, central Book trading co., 1931), p.35.

Exhibited: stockholm, Gummesons Konsthall, Rörich Separatutställning [Roerich solo exhibition], 1918, no. 85;copenhagen, Kunsthadel henry schou, Rörich Maleriudstilling [Roerich exhibition of Paintings], 1919, no. 85;

helsinki, salon strindberg, Nicholas Roerich Taidenäyttely [nicholas Roerich art exhibition], 1919, no. 85;london, The Goupil Gallery, Nicolas Roerich. Spells of Russia, april-July, 1920, no. 23;

new York, Kingor Galleries; Boston, Boston art club; Buffalo, albright art Gallery; chicago, art institute; st louis, city art Museum; san Francisco, Museum of art; omaha, Fine arts society; Kansas, city art institute; cleveland, Museum of art; indianapolis, herron art institute;

Minnesota state fair; Milwaukee, art institute; Detroit, institute of art, and more cities, The Nicholas Roerich Exhibition, 1920-1923, no. 150.

I¹ Brinton, c., The Nicolas Roerich Exhibition, exh. cat., new York, 1920-1921-1922, no. 150.

² selivanova, n., The World of Roerich, (corona Mundi, new York, 1922), p.107.

there is a similar emphasis on the majesty of nature, with the panoramic lake and mountains receding to the horizon. the scene is bathed in the morning light, and the mystical subject again takes the form of the cloud. Whereas The Rain Fairy is a study of a landscape suffused with mist and drizzle, The Knight of the Morning focuses on the soft dawn light slowly warming the landscape, and both works convey the beauty and atmosphere of the landscapes.

the Finnish works represent two of the dominant themes of Roerich’s art; an interest in depicting landscape and a fascination in the spiritual. his landscapes in this period are broken down into large and simple forms, which still manage to convey the immensity of the landscape. Roerich’s preoccupation with this is evidenced by the many sketches in which he strives to convey the bulk of simple features of the Karelian landscape (fig. 2). this move towards abstraction also helped Roerich imbue his works with an intangible sense of spirituality. Brinton surmised Roerich’s works of this period, saying that they ‘witness the artist’s progressive

transition from a world of specific reality into the elusive kingdom of the spirit...you feel that the distant silhouette of low-lying mountain range is accurately observed. You sense the weight and bulk of great masses of rock, yet everywhere is evinced a rigorous suppression of detail, and over all is cast the indefinable spell of an imaginative conception of nature and natural forces’.³

in addition to selivanova’s description, the identification of the present work is confirmed by the presence of early exhibition labels and inscriptions. one of these labels bear the number ‘150’, which was The Rain Fairy’s exhibition number during the touring exhibition of Roerich’s works around american cities from 1920–1922.⁴ the catalogue for this

exhibition, see figure 3, also records the paintings dimensions which accord with the present work.⁵ it retained this inventory number when it was later in the Roerich Museum’s collection until 1935.⁶ Furthermore, inscribed on the reverse is the number ‘23’, which relates to an exhibition held in 1920 at the london branch of the famous Goupil Gallery entitled Spells of Russia by Nicolas Roerich.⁷ this exhibition was highly successful, and started to tour the UK, although this was cut short when Roerich decided to move to america. additionally, later literature⁸ reveals that The Rain Fairy was first exhibited in stockholm in 1918.⁹

on the reverse of the present work is a sketch for The Enchanted City (fig. 4). this sketch is based on an earlier 1912 work by Roerich, entitled Fairest City is the Enemies’ Vexation (fig. 5). in the same year, he produced a variant in a squarer format in which he eliminated the horseman (fig.6).¹⁰ it is this variant on which The Rain Fairy’s sketch is based. in london in 1919, a year after The Rain Fairy was painted, Roerich painted The Enchanted City, however, he opted to return to the original elongated format with the horseman rising to the city’s aid.¹¹ the location of The

nikolai Konstantinovich Roerich, The Knight of the Morning, from the Eques Æternus series, 1918, Private collection (Figure 1)

nikolai Konstantinovich Roerich, Sketch of Landscape, Part of the Karelia leaves, 1917-1918, nicholas Roerich Museum, new York (Figure 2)

The present work listed in the catalogue of the touring exhibition of america from 1920-1922 (Figure 3)

³ Brinton, p.24.⁴ Brinton, no. 150.⁵ ibid.⁶ Roerich Museum Catalogue (sixth edition, new York, 1930), p. 16, no. 150.⁷ Spells of Russia by Nicolas Roerich, exh. cat. Goupil Gallery, london, 1920, p.5, no. 23.

⁸ see Brinton.⁹ stockholm, Gummesons Konsthall, Rörich Separatutställning, [Roerich solo exhibition], 10-30 november 1918.¹⁰ there is compositional sketch for this variant in the nicholas Roerich Museum, new York, inv. no. 706134.¹¹ Brinton, no. 117, and illustrated in Jarintsov, n., 'nicholas K. Roerich', in The Studio (april 1920), inside back cover.

Enchanted City is currently unknown, as is the reason behind Roerich’s return to his earlier composition. nevertheless, the sketch on the reverse of The Rain Fairy does provide a fascinating insight into Roerich’s working technique, as well as providing an effective illustration of the range of Roerich’s work, from the energy of The Enchanted City, to the ‘languid’ style of The Rain Fairy.¹²

Roerich was born in st. Petersburg 1874, but spent much of his childhood surrounded by nature, and he showed an interest in archaeology and ancient civilisations from an early age. having additionally shown an aptitude for drawing, in 1893 he enrolled in the academy of art where he studied under arkhip Kuindzhi (1842-1910). his early work reflect

his interests in Russia’s history, in particular its architecture and religion. he was also increasingly drawn to the theatre, and worked closely with famed directors such as serge Diaghilev (1872-1929), producing designs for the renowned Ballet Russes productions of Prince Igor and Le Sacre du Printemps.

in 1915, as previously mentioned, due to illness he left Russia for Finland, where he stayed until 1919. This was an incredibly productive period for Roerich, and he produced 117 works in 1918 alone, including The Rain Fairy. it was also the period that fostered many of the stylistic changes that marked his later work. one of the reasons he remained in Finland for a number of years was because of the turmoil caused by the Russian revolution. in contrast to the upheaval that his native land was undergoing, the Finnish landscapes stand out for their solemn beauty. he eventually left Finland when a swedish entrepreneur invited him to exhibit his works in sweden, an exhibition which included The Rain Fairy.

From sweden Roerich travelled and exhibited in england and america, before fulfilling a long-held ambition to travel to india in

1923. he and his family undertook a five year tour throughout india and central asia, before eventually settling in the himalayan foothills, which would be his home for the rest of his life.

Roerich’s influence extended far beyond his paintings. he was nominated for the nobel Peace Prize three times for his work promoting the protection of cultural objects. the culmination of this work was the Roerich Pact, a pan-american treaty signed in 1935, which aimed to be a cultural analog to the Red cross, in that the protection of culture always has precedence over any military necessity. in addition to this treaty, which is still in force today, Roerich’s legacy can be seen in the numerous museums and institutions, spread across the globe, that are devoted to his life and art.

sketch for The Enchanted City, on the reverse of The Rain Fairy (Figure 4)

nikolai Konstantinovich Roerich, Fairest City is the Enemies’ Vexation, 1912, n. Roerich international centre-Museum, Moscow (Figure 5)

nikolai Konstantinovich Roerich, Fairest City is the Enemies’ Vexation, Variant, 1912, Private collection, Usa (Figure 6)

¹² Jarintsov, n., p.6.