Roerich overseas guests impression of the painting. Composition: description of the painting N

On his canvas "Overseas Guests", the artist depicted a caravan of ships. These are boats that have sailed to the Russian lands on some business of their own. The viewer can only guess whether the merchants brought the goods or the ambassadors arrived.

But it can be determined that the mission of the overseas guests is peaceful, because people do not have weapons in their hands. And the Russian wooden fortress on the hill looks quite friendly. However, in those distant times, the world could very quickly change to war, but the rooks are adapted for battle. We see shields on their sides and a military helmet on the head of one of the guests. Just as on the walls of the fortress, its defenders can rise at any moment.

Judging by the modest vegetation on the banks, it can be assumed that ships pass along one of the northern rivers. And the way to another place for the Normans (and it is their courts that the viewer sees in the picture) would take too long. From the course of history, we know that this northern people did not go on too far travels, due to the fact that their ships were small in size.

Nikolai Konstantinovich spared no pains to depict the ship in detail. The multicolored sails even give it a festive look. As well as the numerous carvings on the sides, and the elaborate dragon head. All this tells the viewers that they are not facing a boat of ordinary warriors.

A fair wind is blowing, filling the sails. Large breakers at the bow of the boat indicate that the ship is moving rather quickly.

Roerich also portrayed nature masterfully. Green grass on the hills, unusually clear water, which reflects the ship, seagulls flying low in front of the first boat. Despite the military appearance of the ship, the whole atmosphere is imbued with peace. There are people peacefully talking on board, and a city, on the walls of which you cannot see restlessly fussing people. And even seagulls behave calmly. They just escort the ship. Maybe from curiosity, or maybe from an excess of hospitality.

The Russian land at all times was famous for good, peaceful relations with neighbors. Of course, if the overseas guests came in peace.

Addition

This is what the viewer sees when admiring this picture for the first time. The viewer who has not yet delved into the history of its creation. But Roerich himself told a lot about this work of his. The artist, in one of the articles he wrote, claimed that he had depicted the famous path "from the Varangians to the Greeks." That the painting depicts the Viking ships.

The viewer will also be interested to know the fact that while painting the picture, the artist studied the folk popular technique of drawing. This was reflected in the color palette that Roerich chose for his canvas, in the manner of painting.

The painting was painted in 1901, and Tsar Nicholas II acquired it at the exhibition. Today everyone can see this work in the State Tretyakov Gallery.

Roerich's canvases exude an inexhaustible richness of colors and energy. His paintings depict nature in the form in which the artist himself could comprehend it. He saw in her a harmonious combination of life-affirming colors with cosmic shades.

The magnificent painting "Guests from Overseas" was painted by Nicholas Roerich in 1901. Its plot was inspired by the sea voyage to Novgorod, which the painter made two years before the creation of his work.

The canvas has the author's subtitle: "Folk Painting". When creating the picture, the artist used motives and colors typical for masters of folk art and icon painters. Scarlet sails of ships, rivers of a deep dark blue hue, decorated with the heads of dragons of boats - all these are elements that are often found in folk painting. However, it cannot be said that Roerich blindly copied the samples taken as a basis. He managed to create unique works in which the aesthetics of the past are harmoniously combined with the perception of a modern person.

On the canvas, Roerich depicted the famous trade route “from the Varangians to the Greeks,” connecting the Varangian (Baltic) and Russian (Black) seas. This route was used by the Vikings, who in Russia were called the Varangians, to get to the capital of Byzantium, which was the most important center of world trade.

Large brush strokes, gracefully curved lines, decorative decoration of objects - all these artistic features reflect the triumph of the painter's spirit. Thanks to them, the master managed to convey an extraordinary fabulous atmosphere.

Painting by N.K. Roerich takes the viewer to distant times. The canvas depicts overseas guests sailing to the Russian land. Majestic painted boats with goods move along the blue surface of the water in a long row. The wind fills the sails of deep red color. Multi-colored shields are attached to the sides of the ships. The carved dragon heads look forward proudly. And the guests in the boats gaze with interest at the unfamiliar shores.

The painter prescribed in detail the decorations of the ships of foreigners. The viewer can see both the shields attached to the stern and the patterned carvings on the dragon's heads.
The painting depicts a spring day. The bright sun greets guests from distant lands. In the dark blue water, multicolored stripes and circles are visible - the reflection of the colorful overseas ships. Snow-white gulls circle over massive boats.

The nature depicted in the picture is filled with peace. Only on the river runs a light ripple from ships sailing along it. No people are visible on the silent shore. In the distance, on one of the green hills, the city walls whiten.

The painter managed to perfectly convey the splendor of the Russian land. The canvas is filled with light, purity and bright colors. The unique coloring of the picture allows you to feel the beauty and immensity of the majestic Russian expanses. The artist managed to revive an episode from the history of Ancient Rus, to make it close and understandable for the modern viewer.

It is impossible to imagine the native Russian land without expanses of water. These are rivers, lakes, seas and oceans. For many artists, this theme occupies a large place in their work. For a long time, merchants transported their goods along the numerous rivers of Russia, people traveled. The painting "Overseas Guests" shows one of the waterways of Russia. I read that this path leads to the Nizhny Novgorod lands.

The author in his picture showed the overseas guests who arrived in our region. Two large boats cut the water surface. The merchants peer attentively towards the distant, unfamiliar shores. The artist very accurately and colorfully depicted all the details, all the decorations on the boats. He featured both shields at the stern and patterned carvings. The head of a dragon rises above the stern.

Oars cut the river surface. Only the movement of the rook breaks the water peace. The water in the picture is very clear, azure blue. It is so crystal that you can see the stones at the bottom. Ivory gulls fly over the water. Perhaps the movement of the ships scared them, and they circle around them screaming. The impression is that the clear, blue sky is reflected in the river, creating an even more vivid impression of the picture.

No one is visible on the shore. Only in the distance do we see a small settlement. It is already difficult to surprise Russian people with something, because they are accustomed to different guests, including warlike ones. Our compatriots could always rebuff ill-wishers and defend their independence. If the guests come in peace, then they will receive a warm welcome. I think that the guests depicted in the picture came for peaceful purposes, not for enmity. The picture turned out to be very bright, the artist used rich colors, showing both the beauty of nature and ships. The rook stands out as a bright spot against the background of emerald-colored water and attracts attention, forcing to admire.

One of the most mysterious artists, Nicholas Roerich was born on October 9. During his life, he created about seven thousand paintings. Roerich is called one of the brightest figures of Russian Symbolism and Art Nouveau. Even a short biography of the artist looks like an amazing novel. He managed to travel almost the whole world. Roerich lived in France, Belgium, Holland, Germany, England, Finland, USA, China, traveled to Ceylon, the Philippines, and spent the last years in India. During the Russian period, the artist created the famous series of paintings “The Beginning of Russia. Slavs". One of the most striking works of the series is the painting "Overseas Guests".

Nicholas Roerich was interested in history and painting from childhood. His parents did not support his passion for art. His father was a notary and was preparing his son for a legal career. Nevertheless, Nicholas Roerich simultaneously entered the law faculty of St. Petersburg University and the Imperial Academy of Arts. Studied in the studio of the artist Arkhip Kuindzhi. Roerich's diploma painting "The Messenger (A Clan of the People Rebelled)" was immediately acquired by the collector Pavel Tretyakov.

Nicholas Roerich “Messenger (Clan to Clan Rebelled), 1897

After graduating from the Academy, Roerich worked a lot in the historical genre, he went on a big trip across Russia, visiting more than 40 cities. The artist studied the roots of Russian culture, historical monuments. During the trip, he created about 90 sketches and took photographs, which were included in the book of the artist Igor Grabar "History of Russian Art". Based on the impressions of this trip, Nicholas Roerich created the cycle “The Beginning of Rus. Slavs". For a year he went to Paris to study painting in the studio of the artist F. Cormon. In France, the artist created the painting "Overseas guests" (canvas, oil 85х112.5).

Nicholas Roerich "Overseas guests", 1901

The painting "Guests from Overseas" immediately received universal recognition, the artist made several repetitions from it. Roerich said: “In order for a historical picture to make an impression, it must carry the viewer into a bygone era. For this, the artist should not invent and fantasize, hoping for the unpreparedness of the audience, but in fact it is necessary to study ancient life, as soon as possible, to be imbued with it, soaked through ”. At the exhibition at the Imperial Academy of Arts "Overseas guests" in 1902 was acquired by Nicholas II for the Tsarskoselsky Palace. Now she is in the Tretyakov Gallery.

The picture has the author's title "Folk Painting", which resembles the motives and colors of folk painting. In the painting "Overseas Guests" there are symbols and elements that can be seen in icons or in the works of masters of applied art - boats, a combination of red, blue, white. And at the same time, the work has a certain decorativeness that reflects the Art Nouveau style. Historical is not only the boats and the Varangians in helmets sitting in them, but also the landscape of nature itself. At the top of one hill, three burial mounds are visible - these are the burials of the leaders. On the other - a fortified Slavic town. Nicholas Roerich admired the history of Ancient Russia, he said: “When you look at ancient painting, old tiles or ornaments, you think:“ What a beautiful life was! What strong people lived by it! How vital and close to everyone was art ... ".

Roerich was not only a master of painting, but also of words. The painting "Guests from Overseas" has a very poetic description given by the artist: "Midnight guests are sailing. The flat coast of the Gulf of Finland stretches like a light strip. The water seemed to be saturated with the blue of the clear spring sky; the wind ripples along it, driving off dull purple stripes and circles. A flock of seagulls sank onto the waves, swayed carelessly on them, and only under the very keel of the front boat flashed its wings<…>... Rooks go long line! Bright coloring burns in the sun. The bows were famously wrapped, ending with a high, slender nose. "

The painting has one more feature - the artist did not depict a clear face in any of the characters. This characteristic feature is also present in many other works of Nicholas Roerich. The artist Sergei Makovsky said the following about this feature: “The faces of people on Roerich's canvases are almost invisible. They are the faceless ghosts of centuries. Like trees and beasts, like quiet stones of dead villages, like monsters of folk antiquity, they are merged with the elements of life in the fogs of the past. They are without a name ... They do not exist separately, and as if they never existed: as if before, for a long time, in an obvious life, they lived with a common thought and common feeling, together with trees, stones and monsters of antiquity. "

Resounding, contrasting colors add up to a bright mosaic that transports viewers to the distant world of Ancient Russia. Art critics consider the painting "Guests from Overseas" to be one of the artist's most powerful works.

Five interesting facts about Nicholas Roerich

1 ... Until 1917, Nicholas Roerich lived in Russia. During this period, he was engaged in archeology, collecting, designing and painting churches, participated in projects to revive Russian antiquity. The artist also actively worked as a set designer. He created sets and costumes for theatrical performances, several productions of Sergei Diaghilev's Russian Seasons. One of his most famous theatrical works is the ballet The Rite of Spring to music by Igor Stravinsky.

2. During the February Revolution, the Roerich family was in Finland, which closed the borders with Russia. So in 1917 Nicholas Roerich with his wife Elena and two sons was cut off from their homeland. He managed to take out some of the paintings. In Finland, Roerich creates paintings dedicated to Karelia, writes part of the future poetry collection "Flowers of Moria". In 1918 the artist moved to Sweden, then to London, hoping to realize his old dream - a trip to India. However, due to financial difficulties, the trip had to be postponed.

3. Nicholas Roerich was the first Russian artist to be offered an exhibition in 30 US cities at once. This massive three-year tour was organized by the Art Institute of Chicago. Nicholas Roerich and his family moved to New York in 1920, where his first personal exhibition opened. Further, his exhibitions were held in Chicago, San Francisco, Boston and other cities and were a great success. In the USA, Roerich finds both new students and financial support. The artist's beginnings were sponsored by broker Louis Horsch. He also found money for Roerich's trip to India, where the artist and his family went in 1923. With the assistance of Horsch, the Roerich Museum was opened in 1929 in New York. Why was the 29-storey Master Building skyscraper in the Art Deco style built? In addition to the museum, the building housed the Master's Institute of United Arts and an apparatus-hotel. True, in 1938, after scandals with the artist, Horsch completely took over the building.

4 ... From the 1920s to the 1940s, the East was the main theme in the work of Nicholas Roerich. He created the series "Teachers of the East", a series about the images of women "Mother of the World", painted pictures consecrated to nature and mountains. His art was dominated by philosophical searches. Together with his wife Helena Roerich, the artist promoted the spiritual teachings of Agni Yoga or "Living Ethics". The idea of \u200b\u200bthe teaching is that the meaning of human evolution is spiritual improvement. And the most important factor in the manifestation of the human spirit on Earth is culture, therefore, according to Roerich, the preservation and promotion of the spiritual values \u200b\u200bof culture is the main task of society.

Nicholas Roerich "Testament of the Teacher", 1947

Nicholas Roerich died in Kullu on December 13, 1947. The artist bequeathed to bury himself according to Indian custom. Roerich's philosophical beginnings were continued by his sons - orientalist Yuri Roerich and artist Svyatoslav Roerich.

Svyatoslav Roerich "Portrait of Professor Nicholas Roerich in a Tibetan dress", 1928

5. In the collection of the Voronezh Museum. I. N. Kramskoy has two monumental expositions of Nicholas Roerich "Morning of the princes of the hunt" (oil on canvas 1901). The plot motif in this work is fused with the landscape, which sets a special, "historical" mood.

Nicholas Roerich "Morning of the princes of the hunt", 1901

The material used data from the book "One Hundred Great Pictures" by N. A. Ionin.

There are artists whose life bears the stamp of their unusual nature, original and distinctive attitude to the world. Even a short biography of Nicholas Roerich resembles not just a fascinating story, but a whole novel. The Soviet art critic I. Petrov notes that he was "a remarkable painter, tireless traveler, passionate explorer, philosopher and poet. He lived in France and Switzerland, Belgium and Holland, England and Germany, Finland and the USA, China and Japan; Ceylon, the Philippines and Hong Kong, have lived in India in recent years. "

Not only creativity, but also N. Roerich's bright personality attracted people to him, even during his lifetime his fame became almost legendary. Roerich's paintings, of which there are more than 5000, can be found in leading museums and art collections around the world. In Russia, perhaps, there is no museum or gallery that does not possess several of his works. In some museums, entire rooms are dedicated exclusively to his paintings, and a 29-story building was erected in his honor in New York City in 1929. It seems that for the first time in history a whole museum was built for the masterpieces of one artist during his lifetime. One of the features of N. Roerich's art, which determined all the directions of his creative searches, was the desire to embody in painting the images of the distant, heroic past, to penetrate the meaning of ancient legends, to convey all the poetic charm of folk life.

Kievan Rus, Viking raids, legends of the Ancient East attracted Roerich at the very beginning of his creative activity. Speaking in 1898-1899 at the St. Petersburg Archaeological Institute with a series of lectures "Artistic technique as applied to archeology", he said: "In order for a historical picture to make an impression, it is necessary that it transports the viewer into a past era. For this, an artist must not invent to fantasize, hoping for the unpreparedness of the audience, but in fact it is necessary to study ancient life, as soon as possible, to be imbued with it, soaked through. "

The best example of such penetration into the past was the historical paintings of the great V. Surikov. But he devoted his work to the events of the Muscovy of the XVI-XVII centuries. And the historical layer that fascinated N. Roerich went back to the times of Kievan Rus and even further - up to the Stone Age. For the artist, history becomes a living part of folk life, the source of the national principle in Russian art is for him the Russian people, who created amazingly beautiful poetic tales, songs, and art products. "When you look at the ancient painting, at the old tiles or ornaments, you think:" What a beautiful life was! What strong people lived by it! How vital and close to everyone was art ... "- N. Roerich exclaimed.

N. Roerich entered Russian art immediately as a mature master. He graduated from the Academy of Arts with his diploma painting "The Messenger. Clan Rebelled", which was warmly greeted by I. Repin and V. Surikov and acquired by P.M. Tretyakov. After "The Messenger", on the advice of I. Repin, N. Roerich left for Paris to the studio of the famous historical painter F. Corman.

The French artist immediately saw that he was already an established master, and took great care of his bright, original talent. When N. Roerich left France, his soul was already full of images of Ancient Russia. Soon he created a cycle of paintings entitled "The Beginning of Russia. Slavs".

"Guests from Overseas" is one of the paintings in this cycle, written in 1901. She immediately received universal recognition, and the artist made several repetitions of it. The picture also has its own literary version in a short story written by N. Roerich in 1900. With well-aimed, artistically precise words, he describes floating boats, the noses of which are completed with painted carved dragons. On their sides motley shields sparkling in the sun, sails filled with wind strike fear on enemies. The boats are sailing along the Neva and Volkhov, the Dnieper and Lake Ilmen - to Constantinople itself. Varangians are going to bargaining or to service ...

Also in the picture, painted Varangian boats are slowly moving towards the viewer along the blue surface of the serene sea. The patterned heads of griffins-dragons rise proudly, the steep sides of the ships are decorated with multi-colored shields, the scarlet sails glow against the blue of the sky. The Vikings crowded at the stern gaze with curiosity into the distance opening in front of them.

The picture also attracts with its colorful festivity. Open, tense tones create a sense of joyful chime of bright colors. Red and blue, light blue and golden-brown colors in the decoration of ships, in nature and in people's clothing especially sound next to the whiteness of light clouds and the wings of seagulls flying over the sea. The picturesqueness of this picture opens up a new, hitherto unknown country for the viewer (as well as for the Varangians). And now we already recognize the pattern of folk ornaments and the festivity of ancient Russian art. In the memory of the audience, favorite stories from childhood come to life about people of bygone times, about a glorious life, fanned by so many poetic legends. Beyond the edge of the centuries, where true history merges with myth, and the fabulous turns into reality, these guests live, who came from a foreign country to see Great Russia.

Historical is not only the boats and the Varangians in helmets sitting in them, but also the landscape of nature itself. The wavy lines of green hills with rounded boulders in some places are the result of the movement of glaciers, which smoothed out and softened the sharp reliefs of the northern landscape. At the top of one hill, three burial mounds are visible - these are the burials of the leaders. On the other - a Slavic town fortified by the tyn and towers, from where, perhaps, the inhabitants look at the flotilla not only with alarm and excitement, but also with curiosity.

The skill of N. Roerich, with which he painted multi-colored plows illuminated by the sunset rays and burning in the sun, is amazing. The dense blue of the waves cut by ships laden with goods; green hills and walls of hailstones rising in the distance; the pure blue of the heavens, the joyful radiance of the morning sun - everything makes you believe in a wonderful fairy tale.

The picture is full of movement - sometimes slow and heavy in the smooth movement of the rooks, then noisy and light in the hubbub of seagulls and the swing of oars. The motionless, like sleeping hills only enhance the impression of the solemn arrival of guests.

But, peering into the picture, we will not find in it brightly and vividly painted faces, separate characters, peculiar individuals. The faces of the Vikings are barely visible, and the inhabitants of Russian cities are not visible at all. Russian artist S. Makovsky noted: "The faces of people on Roerich's canvases are almost invisible. They are faceless ghosts of centuries. Like trees and animals, like quiet stones of dead villages, like monsters of folk antiquity, they are merged with the elements of life in the fogs of the past. They are - without a name ... They are not separate and as if they never existed: as if before, long ago, in an obvious life, they lived with a common thought and a common feeling, together with trees, stones and monsters of antiquity.

On these canvases, shimmering with the dark luxury of ancient mosaics or flooded with pale waves of light, a person sometimes only imagines ... But half-visible, invisible - he is everywhere. "

Indeed, the image created in the painting "Guests from Overseas" is not an abstract image. The sun shines uniquely in the waves and in the sails. The elegant Varangian ships are distinctive; they have their own "face" also near the green coastal hills, near the houses and walls of a distant city. In its silent buildings, in the sleepy unhurriedness of valleys and mountains, the dormant power of the country is felt.

The artist transports the viewer into the depths of the centuries, and he becomes an eyewitness to the bright pagan life of Ancient Russia. And it is not individual heroes, not an entertaining historical episode, but, as it were, the pages of chronicles that have been read over again