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Dimensions: 73.5 by 117.25cm., 29 by 46in.

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Provenance: Roerich Museum, New York, 1924–1935
Nettie and Louis Horch, USA

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Exhibited:

New York , Roerich Museum permanent collection, 1924–1935, no. 479

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Literature: List of Nicholas Roerich Paintings, 1917-1924. Autograph, Nicholas Roerich Museum archive, New York, no.19.
F. Grant et al. Roerich, Himalaya, A Monograph. New York: Brentano Publ., 1926, p.199 (reproduced p.191)
Roerich Museum Catalogue. New York: Roerich Museum, 1930, p.21
A.V.Yaremenko, Nicholai Konstantinovich Roerich: His Life and Creations During the Past Forty Years, New York: Central Book Trading Co., 1931, p.38 (illustrated pl. 91)
Y.Petrova, A Time to Gather: Russian Art from Foreign Private Collections, 2007, p.125, no.80, (illustated)

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Notes: PROPERTY FROM AN IMPORTANT PRIVATE COLLECTION, ENGLAND
Sangacheling Sikkim Roerich, who was interested in philosophical aspects of Buddhism at the time, is inspired here by his visit to one of the oldest and most important monasteries of Sikkim, situated near the little town of Pelling. Founded in 1705, Sangacheling (Sangachoeling) adheres to the Nyingma tradition, the oldest of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. He remarks, "An interesting monastery is Sanga Chelling... there are no relics, but there rests a stone made sacred by the blessing of the founder; when the life of the monastery is unalloyed, the stone is firm, but each deviation makes the stone creak." The composition invokes a parallel with a ship, with the monk as its captain. Sitting on a rock that looms over a precipice, he has the support of the teachings, symbolized by stupas, but he will ultimately be the one who will determine the future of his own spirit, and that of Buddhism. Mirroring Roerich's words, if the monk's spirit cracks, the stone breaks. Roerich displays his skill and new vision in the quality of his lines. They are the focus, with almost no detail in the surfaces. It allows him to suffuse the painting with a yellow light, a significantly symbolic colour in Buddhism, and to convey the strength of the monk's spirit, as it it subtly balances the enormous stupas. We are grateful to Gvido Trepša, Senior Researcher at The Nicholas Roerich Museum, New York for providing this note.