Himalayas 1940

Nicholas Roerich made this painting of the Himalayas using tempera on cardboard. Through his travels to India, Tibet, and Mongolia, Roerich sought to reveal the spiritual power of the East. Painted during the first half of the 20th century, this image builds on the theosophical movement which proposed that the spiritual truths of all religions could be integrated into a single system. Roerich, along with his wife Helena, co-founded the Agni Yoga Society in 1920, which promoted the synthesis of Eastern and Western spiritual traditions. These ideas had a profound effect on European and North American intellectual and artistic circles. Roerich’s paintings, stage designs, and writings were all geared towards uplifting humanity through mystical and spiritual experience, and he ultimately wanted to create a new, unified world culture. As historians, we can understand this artwork better through researching the archives of the Roerich Museum and studying the publications of the Agni Yoga Society.