Roerich Heritage in Caucasian Culture

Abstract

The article reveals the main periods and places of actualizing the Roerich heritage in the Caucasian culture. The study of Caucasian culture by the Roerich scholars in a historical perspective is presented in this context. The author attributes the Roerichs' acquaintance with Caucasian culture to the end of the 19th century and describes both the references to the Caucasus in the Roerichs' works and epistolary materials, revealing the most significant cultural treasures of the Caucasus, and Nicholas Roerich' artistic works on the Caucasian theme. The article presents an in-depth study of the Caucasus by two generations of the Roerich family, who promoted the idea of the special significance of the Caucasus for Russia. The author focuses on the places where Nicholas Roerich's paintings and art objects from the collection of the Roerich family are kept in private and museum collections in the Caucasus, Crimea and southern Russia. The Roerich family made a significant contribution to the study of Caucasian culture by making several trips to the Caucasus during the so-called "Russian" period of its existence. The article summarizes the interim results of the cultural, educational and exhibition project "The Roerichs and the Caucasus" organized by the St. Petersburg State Museum-Institute of the Roerich Family with the support of a number of cultural institutions and public associations of the Caucasus and St. Petersburg.