The Painting by Roerich “Celestial Battle”
Nicholas Roerich is a kind of author whose works are distinguished by profound philosophical and lyrical motifs. The themes of his paintings are diverse and complex, spiritual and sublime. The favorite images of Roerich’s creativity, in turn, can be considered images of sky and clouds.
The motif of the sky and clouds clearly sounds in Roerich’s famous work, such as “Heavenly Battle.” The painting was written in 1912, in a difficult time for the history of Russia. Unusual canvas, created on canvas made of cardboard using mixed tempera technique, is currently kept in the State Russian Museum in St. Petersburg.
The picture “Celestial battle” is filled not only with artistic images, but with symbols, in which, first and foremost, the features and spirit of that era were embodied. The most part of the work is occupied by the image of clouds, which are heavy images that carry a threat that is unknown, but becomes more and more visible and visible.
Roerich is the greatest master of the transmission of mental states and a different range of feelings and moods. All the subtle transitions of the states of nature or spirit the artist embodies with the use of colors, which are necessary, from the position of tonality and color. The artistic method of Nicholas Roerich is distinguished by the openness of colorful images, the emotional form, the dynamics
The picturesque work “Celestial Battle” reflects the interweaving, the “battle” of color and form, light and shadow, heaven and earth. Here the reception of the antithesis or opposition is clearly realized, the reception of a global contrast, the eternal confrontation of the various forces. This philosophical phenomenon of “eternal battle” could feel and convey the great genius of Roerich in that vague twilight, the time of the beginning of new wars and revolutions. As a true artist, Roerich lived in tact with the life of his Motherland, loved and hated with her, and even when this Motherland turned away from him, he retained to this day the great faith of the creator, this great love for his native land, its history and the people. Therefore, the work of Nicholas Roerich is still so great and valuable for us.