Nicholas Roerich and His Theatrical Designs

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

Art · Art history · Opera · Painting · Performing arts · Reputation · Sociology · The arts · Visual arts · Diversity and Impact of Dance · Musicology and Musical Analysis · Theatre and Performance Studies

• The Silver Age

  Gerald Janecek, John E Bowlt et al.•The Slavic and East European…•1980

  Add to list