From Russia with love

Salarjung Museum organised an exhibition titled ‘In search of the mystic world’ which featured paintings by famous Russian painter Nicholas Roerich and his son Svetoslav Roerich. The paintings form a part of the collection of the Allahabad Museum. The exhibition was inaugurated by N Ramesh Kumar, special chief secretary to the Governor of Andhra Pradesh.

Also in attendance were Rajesh Purohith, director, Allahabad Museum, Nagender Reddy, director, Salar Jung Museum and Professor Syed Ghouse from English and Foreign Languages University (EFLU). After the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia, Roerich went to Europe and America before finally coming to India.

He settled in Kulu Valley and started the Urusvati Himalayan Research Institute to study ethnography, linguistics and archaeology of the Himalayas. The present exhibition is a series of paintings made with inspiration from the surroundings of the Kulu Valley, the Himalayan ranges, nature, spirituality and village atmosphere.

The medium is mostly Tempera on Canvas. A painting titled ‘Holy Shepherd’ about Lel of the ancient Slavonic tradition with attendants Kupava and Sneurochaka is very unique as it brings about a lot of similarity with Lord Krishna and his Gopis. ‘Ecstasy’, ‘Arhat’, ‘Maitreya’,‘Dhyan Mudra’ and ‘Messenger of Sambhala’ bring in the elements of spiritual mysticism of the mountains to the fore.