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Nicholas Roerich and His Theatrical Designs: A Research Survey

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 July 2014

Kenneth Archer
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Extract

The Russian painter Nicholas Roerich, born in St. Petersburg in 1874, figured prominently in the Silver Age of Russian art at the turn of the century. By the time he left Russia, around 1917, he had painted several hundred canvases and had achieved an international reputation. He continued to paint prolifically in Western Europe, America, Central Asia, and India until his death at Naggar in the Himalayas in 1947. Roerich's paintings continue to be well known in the Soviet Union and India, as do his writings and his activities in the fields of archaeology, education in the arts, Eastern philosophy and world peace. In the West, though, he is best known as a theatrical designer, a reputation due especially to his sets and costumes for Serge Diaghilev's productions of the Polovtsian Dances from Prince Igor in 1909 and Le Sacre du printemps in 1913. Both ballets were acclaimed at the time of their Parisian premières and became classics of stage décor. In addition to being one of Diaghilev's leading designers during the early years of the Ballets Russes, Roerich carried out commissions for Konstantin Stanislavsky at the Moscow Art Theater (1912), Sir Thomas Beecham at the Royal Opera, Covent Garden in London (1919), Leopold Stokowski at the Metropolitan Opera in New York (1930), as well as for the choreographer Leonide Massine (1944), and others.

Type
Research Article
Information
Dance Research Journal , Volume 18 , Issue 2 , Winter 1987 , pp. 3 - 6
Copyright
Copyright © Congress on Research in Dance 1987

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References

NOTES

1. Roerich, Svetoslav, Conversations, London, December 1974Google Scholar.

2. Roerich's published volumes include: Sobmnie Sochinenie, Pervaya, Kniga (Collected Works, Book One) (Moscow: Sitin, 1914)Google Scholar; Nerushimoe (The In vincible) (Riga: Urguns, 1936Google Scholar; English translation, New York: Nicholas Roerich Museum, 1974); and Fiery Stronghold (Boston: Stratford, 1933)Google Scholar. Details of further volumes are given in note 6.

3. Knyseva, Valentina P., N. Rerikh (Roerich, N.) (Moscow: Iskusstvo, 1968), p. 25Google Scholar.

4. These paintings include: The Messenger (1897); The Idols (1901); and Slavs on the Dnieper (1905).

5. Buckle, Richard, Nijinsky (London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1971Google Scholar) and Diaghilev (New York: Atheneum, 1979)Google Scholar.

6. Bowlt, John E., The Silver Age: Russian Art of the Early Twentieth Century and the “World of Art” Group (Newtonville, MA: Oriental Research Partners, 1982Google Scholar) and Russian Stage Design, Scenic Innovation, 1900–1930, from the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Nikita D. Lobanov-Rostovsky (Jackson, MS: Mississippi Museum of Art, 1982)Google Scholar.

7. The English translations of books by Roerich, Nicholas K. that are relevant to this survey include: Adamant (Paris: Presse Franco-Russe, 1923Google Scholar; New York: Corona Mundi, International Art Center, 1924); Altai Himalaya (New York: F. A. Stokes and Company, 1929Google Scholar; London: Jarrolds, no date given) and Beautiful Unity (Bombay: no publisher given, 1946)Google Scholar.

8. Selivanova, Nina, The World of Roerich (Paris: Presse Franco-Russe, 1923Google Scholar; New York: Corona Mundi, International Art Center, 1924).

9. Conlan, Barnett D., A Master of the Mountains (Liberty, IN: Flamma, 1938)Google Scholar, incorporated into Roerich (Riga: Roerich Museum, 1939).

10. Ekstrom, Parmenia Migel, Nicholas Roerich, Décors and Costumes for Diaghilev's Ballets Russes and Russian Operas, exhibition catalogue (New York: Cordier & Ekstrom, 1974)Google Scholar.

11. Bullard, Truman C., The First Performance of Igor Stravinsky's “Sacre du Printemps,” doctoral thesis, University of Rochester, Eastman School of Music, 1971Google Scholar (Ann Arbor, MI: University Microfilms International).

12. Vaux-Phalipau, Mme de, “L'Art de Nicolas Roerich au Théâtre”, La Revue du Vrai et du Beau (Paris: 15th September, 1929)Google Scholar.

13. Bablet, Denis, Le Décor du Théâtre de 1870 à 1914, (Paris: 1965)Google Scholar.

14. Sirkina, F.Y. and Kostina, E.M., Russkoe Teatralnoe Dekoratsionoe Iskusstvo, (Russian Theatrical Design) (Moscow: Iskusstvo, 1978)Google Scholar.

15. Ernst, Serge, N. K. Rerikh, (Roerich, N.K.) (Petrograd: Sv. Evgenii, 1918)Google Scholar.

16. N.K. Rerikh, (N.K. Roerich) (Petrograd: Apollon, 1915).

17. Knyseva.

18. Belikov, Paul F. and Knyseva, Valentina P., Rerikh (Roerich) (Moscow: Molodaya Gvardiya, 1972)Google Scholar.

19. Rerikh, N.K., Iz Literaturnogo Naslediya (N.K. Roerich, from his Literary Legacy), ed. Kuzmina, M.T. (Moscow: Izobrazitelnoe Iskusstvo, 1974)Google Scholar.