Serbia kept seven of Roerich paintings, traces of which were lost in 1941
Among them the picture of the “Good visit” of 1923, which the artist particularly appreciated.
BELGRADE, March 8. /Offset. TASS Pavel Bushuev/. Seven paintings of Nicholas Roerich, whose fate was unknown since the German attack on Yugoslavia in April 1941, found in the collection of the National Museum of Serbia located in Belgrade. About it the correspondent of TASS said the curator of collections of foreign art of the Museum Elena Dargent.
“In the collection of the National Museum in Belgrade is stored seven paintings of Nicholas Roerich,” said Dargent. This “Borgustan. The Caucasus” (1913), “the Bells” (1919, a painting also known as “toll”), “Good visit” (1923, known as the “Holy guests”), “Berendei. The village” (1921, also known as “the Village of Berendey”), “Sergius of Radonezh” (1922, also known as “Youth of St. Sergius”), two sketches of costumes for the Opera “the snow maiden” (1921). Nicholas Roerich himself of those of his works particularly appreciated the picture of the “Good visit”.
In 1932, when in Belgrade the Museum was created, Nicholas Roerich wrote a letter to the Serbian king Alexander I, which was offered to the Museum one of his paintings. “Burn my heart to bring a gift that treasure one of my paintings, but my work is divided into two worlds: one is the world of Slavic, Russian, the other — world in the cradle of the ancestors of the Slavs-Aryans — the Himalayas. How to choose? Would not it pleased Your Royal Majesty to tell me which of these worlds would be desirable for the Treasury of Belgrade?” — said in a letter dated 5 June 1930, stored in the state archive of Serbia.
The king replied that he would prefer a picture “of Russian life or nature, that is, from the Slavic world”. According to some, in addition to the painting, intended in the gift of the Belgrade Museum, Serbia brought and other works of Roerich at the exhibition of his work, but the outbreak of the Second world war and then Nazi Germany’s attack on Yugoslavia in April of 1941 prevented the return of exhibits to Russia.
Previously, 10 of the paintings, which were considered lost, was found by Russian diplomats in Croatia. In an interview with TASS, Russian Ambassador in Croatia, Anvar Azimov, said that the employees of the Embassy were found in one of the local museums, 10 paintings, which were considered lost. “We found in the vaults of a Museum 10 unique paintings of Nicholas Roerich, with his consent, was brought here in the late 30-ies, there was held an exhibition of his paintings, then they are left, then came the war and these paintings actually forgot, — said the head of the diplomatic mission. — We conduct the necessary work to return these paintings to the Russian side”.