Nicholas Roerich (1874-1947)

When travelling in the Karakoram mountain range during his Central Asian expedition of 1925-1928, Nicholas Roerich, together with his wife Helena and son George, traversed seven mountain passes between the ancient capitals Leh and Khotan.
In his epic book Heart of Asia, Roerich provides a detailed account of the treacherous, yet stunningly beautiful mountain range underlining that of all the passes crossed on this route, Sasser was the most dangerous, its glacial slope causing George's horse to fall (N. Roerich, Heart of Asia, New York, 1929, p. 31). In spite of the constant difficulties experienced by his caravan, Roerich managed to create a vast series of works inspired by the awesome landscapes that he saw for the first time, thanks to which a wider international audience was able to become familiar with parts of the world that were virtually unknown at that time. The present work is a fine example of Roerich's work in progress, caught at a moment of rest near Sasser Pass. The work is carefully and beautifully executed, reflecting Roerich’s exceptional attention to detail, complete with colour notes in various parts of the landscape that would serve as a tool for future completion.


We are grateful to Gvido Trepša, Curator at the Nicholas Roerich Museum, New York for his assistance in cataloguing this work.