Nicholas Roerich

Collection of Louis and Nettie Horch, New York (acquired directly from the artist)
Private Collection, Chicago, 1954
Private Collection, Florida
Thence by descent

New York, Nicholas Roerich Museum (permanent collection, 1923-1935)
New York, Nicholas Roerich Museum (on loan, 2002-2003)

Corona Mundi International Art Center, Roerich, New York, 1924, pl. [43]
F. Grant et al., Roerich, Himalaya, A Monograph, New York, 1926, p. 199
Roerich Museum Catalogue, New York, 1930, no. 178
A.V. Yaremenko, Nikolai Konstantinovich Roerich: his life and creations during the past forty years, New York, 1931, p. 38, pl. 80, illustrated
B.D. Conlan, Roerich, Riga, 1939, p. 43, illustrated
V.V. Sokolovsky, N.K. Roerich: life and oeuvre, Moscow, 1978, p. 282
J. Decter with the Nicholas Roerich Museum, Nicholas Roerich: The Life and Art of a Russian Master, New York, 1989, p. 123
Akademie Khudozhestv Gallery, Center Isskustv Kyust Beratung, Nicolai Roerich, Samara, Moscow, Zurich, 2008, no. 327, illustrated

This tempera on a rough burlap-like linen is in quite healthy condition. The paint layer on the burlap is thinly painted and in some places, for instance in the lower left of the sky, it may be slightly thinner than originally conceived by the artist. There is also thinness in the purple water but this seems to have been the original intention of the artist. There is a restoration in the lower left, approximately 1 ½ inches from the bottom edge, another in the extreme lower left corner, another small restoration in the lower right corner and one other in the upper right corner. Because the work is painted on an extremely thin and acidified burlap, the tacking edges have become unstable and two or three times in the past some reinforcements have been applied to help keep the work stable. There are a few retouches on the extreme edges. The work should always be framed behind glass and handled carefully. Ideally, a further examination of the edges should be considered. The following condition report has been provided by Simon Parkes of Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc. 502 East 74th St. New York, NY 212-734-3920, simonparkes@msn.com , an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

And We Continue Fishing is the fourth of six paintings in Roerich's Sancta series. These allegorical paintings are meant to represent a spiritual journey, and they are unique within the artist's 1920s oeuvre for their distinctively Russian setting and imagery. Though Roerich often referenced the ancient Slavs and Orthodox Church during his earlier, Russian period, his output of the early 1920s predominantly comprised theatrical designs and American landscapes, followed later by Himalayan mountain scenes. In fact, these rare paintings were executed in 1922 while Roerich was living in the United States and, aside from a three-month visit in 1926, he would never again return home to Russia.

In the scheme of Roerich's oeuvre, the Sancta series is among the most overtly spiritual, exuding a simplicity of form and reverence of subject that evokes the very nature of icon painting. "The art of Nicolas Roerich...owes much to the purity of tone and linear integrity of the early Byzantines. Its mystery, its passion, and its luminous chromatic glory may be found in miniature in the iconography of the anonymous masters of Kiev, Novgorod, Moscow, and Vladimir, and the frescoes that gleam from the walls of many a green or blue domed lavra" (C. Brinton, The Nicholas Roerich Exhibition, New York, 1920). Meanwhile, the cycle's name "Sancta," or sanctuaries, suggests the sacred importance of the settings of the scenes, as if the paintings themselves were windows onto holier realms. Such allusions underscore Roerich's personal interest in spirituality, about which much is written, and his paintings provide evidence of his profound ability to communicate this interest visually and create an otherworldly atmosphere. Christian Brinton, curator of the artist's solo exhibition United States once wrote, "'Roerich's realm'...is a luminous, rarefied province of primal awe and wonder, a species of spontaneous identification with the eternal forces of life and nature, with the perennial creative rhythm of the universe" (Ibid.).

This series is also unique for its overarching narrative, as underscored by the artist's titles: And We Open the Gates; And We Do Not Fear; And We Labor; And We Continue Fishing; And We Bring the Light; And We See. The very language evokes a sense of poetry in which the word "And" suggests both sequence and eternal process. Their subjects are similarly unified, each featuring monks dressed in hooded black robes, their faces left intentionally indistinct. These anonymous, holy figures come to represent a universal "We" in each composition, and their onward struggle culminates in their ability to "See"—to bear witness to God and thus reach fulfillment, as depicted in the series' final work (fig 3).

The present lot features four monks fishing in a purple sea, the sky behind them alight with a brilliant shade of red. The horizon line falls below center, allowing the heavens to dominate the composition, yet the vividly articulated gestures of the fisherman and chop of the approaching waves lend palpable drama to the scene. It is reasonable to assume that Roerich introduces the fish not only as a figure of faith in Christian religions, but also as a symbol of fundamental needs and, as the title suggests, the everlasting necessity of their fulfillment.

Sotheby's is honored to have auctioned two other paintings by Nicholas Roerich from the Bolling family collection in April 2006: Lao-Tze, which sold for $2,200,000, and Confucius, The Just One, which sold for $1,248,000.