Portrait of N.K. Roerich in a Tibetan Robe

This portrait, created in Naggar, India, was originally located in the Rolf Harris Estate, then went to John Kurtz and in the period from 1990 to 2009 it was in the exposition of the N. Roerich Museum in New-York. In early 1930-s Helena Roerich wrote in one of her letters that the Spiritual Teacher ordered Svetoslav Roerich to create four full-length portraits of Nicholas Roerich. She also mentioned that three of these portraits had been created already, most likely meaning the following: Portrait of Nicholas Roerich with a casket (1928), Portrait of N. Roerich (full-length, on silk), 1933, and Portrait of N.K. Roerich in a Tibetan Robe (1933). In all of these portraits N.K. Roerich was depicted in a golden Tibetan robe with long sleeves and a jerkin with exquisite ornament that he received as a present during the Central-Asian expedition (1924-1928). The portrait is striking mostly due to its composition. Almost the whole space of the painting is occupied by N. Roerich’s full-length figure. He sits with his hands on the lap in a majestic pose, his face inspired and his blue eyes full of depth. In this portrait S. Roerich depicted his father as a builder, collector, “a person who was an example of the highest spiritual efforts and messenger of the great powers that chose him as a herald of great revelations...”