Nicholas Roerich (1874 – 1947)  was a Russian painter, writer, archaeologist, theosophist, perceived by some in Russia as an enlightener, philosopher, and public figure, who in his youth was influenced by a movement in Russian society around the spiritual. He was interested in hypnosis and other spiritual practices and his paintings are said to have hypnotic expression.

Born in Saint Petersburg, Russia, to a well-to-do notary public father of Baltic German ancestry and a Russian mother, Nicholas Roerich lived in various places around the world until his death in Naggar, Himachal Pradesh, India. Trained as an artist and a lawyer, his main interests were literature, philosophy, archaeology, and especially art.

Roerich was a dedicated activist for the cause of preserving art and architecture during times of war. He earned several nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize long list. The so-called Roerich Pact was signed into law by the United States and most nations of the Pan-American Union in April 1935.

Artistically, Nicholas Roerich became known as his generation’s most talented painter of Russia’s ancient past, a topic that was compatible with his lifelong interest in archeology. Roerich also succeeded as a stage designer by achieving his greatest fame as one of the designers for Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes. His best-known designs were for Alexander Borodin’s Prince Igor (1909 and later productions), and costumes and set for The Rite of Spring (1913), composed by Igor Stravinsky.

Along with Mikhail Vrubel and Mikhail Nesterov, Nicholas Roerich is considered a major representative of Russian Symbolism in art. From an early period of his life, he was influenced by apocrypha and medieval sectarian writings such as the mysterious Dove Book.

Another of Nicholas Roerich’s artistic subjects was architecture. His acclaimed publication “Architectural Studies” (1904–1905), consisting of dozens of paintings he made of fortresses, monasteries, churches, and other monuments during two long trips through Russia, inspired his decades-long career as an activist on behalf of artistic and architectural preservation. Source: Wikiart.