1 The Artist’s Roots and Formative Years

Abstract

Nikolai Konstantinovich Roerich pursued his artistic education in Paris in the studio of the historic painter Fernand Cormon in 1900-1901. While visiting the Parisian old Gothic cathedrals he was imbued with the spirit of its mediaeval mysticism. His artistic interests were totally alienated from contemporary life, he drew his inspiration in the remote past of humanity, mostly from Russian fairy and epic tales and from the idealized way of life of the pre-Christian pagan Russia, as is eloquently evidenced by the titles of his early paintings. Nikolai's tremendous self-conceit occasionally turned into sheer arrogance which lifted him, an artist and master, high above the narrow-minded philistine crowd. Roerich' biographers, speaking of his early formative years, underscore his yearning for self-perfection which the artist claimed to be his life's main task. This could be fulfilled, he believed, through creative work and art.Keywords: artistic education; Fernand Cormon; formative years; mediaeval mysticism; Nikolai Konstantinovich Roerich; Paris; Russian fairy tales; self-conceit