Hard days for the Roerich Museum in Moscow

Few Russians symbolise the strong bonds between Russia and India the way Nicholas Roerich does. The great painter, writer, philosopher and mystic was a great scholar of Hinduism and Buddhism and his works were greatly influenced by Indian philosophies.

He was also the first artist to paint the Himalayas, and he captured them at a time when they were way more remote and inaccessible.  Nicholas Roerich died in Kulu in 1947.

Thanks to his sons Yuri and Svetoslav, a large number of his masterpieces were brought to Moscow and are displayed at a museum in the heart of the Russian capital. This museum is housed in a beautiful mansion next to the Pushkin Museum of Arts. It gets no state support and there is growing pressure from the land mafia to evict the museum from the building, which is worth millions of dollars. 

The staff at the museum look stressed but lovingly maintain the museum, even though I suspect that they have not been paid their salaries in a long time. 

Seeing the Buddhist stupa in the museum's courtyard and observing the great works of this master, who was responsible for the Roerich Pact, I feel a great sense of unease when I think that the museum may be forcibly relocated. The museum also does not have enough money to maintain the great paintings and recently the museum director and one of India's best friends in Moscow - Lyudmila Shaposhnikova passed away (she was in her 80s). 

It's also a shame that a great man like Roerich is hardly known in Russia, except by the intelligentsia. Given the way things work in Russia, I would not be surprised to see the museum relocated, although I hope it manages to survive in its current venue.

I quote from the Russia & India Report

"Nicholas Roerich is remembered around world as an advocate of the arts and culture and as a man who initiated the Roerich pact for the protection of artistic and academic institutions and historical sites. He left behind some seven thousand paintings and dozens of books and essays. The Moscow Roerich museum offers a captivating look at his life and legacy."