Visionary, master painter and world citizen, Nicholas Roerich is one of the outstanding personalities of this or any other century.
Unquestionably one of the most interesting and prolific of 20th century painters, his large canvasses run to the several thousands, each one a masterpiece of daring composition, glowing color harmony and massive effect. Himalayan is the word not only for his art, but also for his soul as well.
He was a daring pioneer as mystic, poet, thinker and scientist and his output as a writer was great and voluminous. From his mountain home in Kullu, India, he kept himself in touch with every progressive idea and movement in the outer world and often guided them with his wisdom and practical help.
His versatility is amazing; his capacity for work, prodigious. His interest in the small was as great and as enthusiastic as was his interest in the large. Whether painting a gorgeous Himalayan landscape or writing a short message to a school magazine, he gave it the same attention and care, a trait of true greatness.
India had a special place in his affection, and to India he looked for the spiritual regeneration of the world. Hence his home and retreat in the land of the Rishis. His great countrywoman and spiritual mentor, Madame Blavatsky, introduced him to India and to Indian wisdom, as she did to that other great Russian, Scriabin. One reveals the glories of the superhuman world through his canvasses, the other his immortal compositions.
“One of the great intuitive minds of the age” was the tribute paid to Roerich by Gorky, himself another immortal. And in this collection of essays, written about the Himalayan soul, his intuitive wisdom expresses itself as beautifully in his words as in his painting.