Philosophy and Semiotics of Colour and Light in the Artistic Legacy of the Roerich Family by Olga Lavrenova

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HTTP://DOI.ORG/10.33234/SSR.20.5

Philosophy and Semiotics of Colour and Light in the Artistic Legacy of the Roerich Family

Olga Lavrenova

Leading research scientist at the Institute of Scientific Information for Social Sciences of the Russian Academy of Sciences (INION RAN)

olgalavr@mail.ru

Abstract

The Roerich family is a remarkable phenomenon in the cultural history of Russia and India of the 20^th century. Nicholas Roerich was a great artist, thinker, traveller, and the founder of the international Agreement on the Protection of Artistic and Scientific Institutions and Historical Monuments signed by the 22 countries of Northern and Southern Americas in 1935. Helena Roerich was a unique philosopher of cosmism who contributed to the creation of Living Ethics philosophical system. Elder son George was a well-known Orientalist, and younger brother Svetoslav was an artist and an art theorist. The art of this family a shared heritage of Russia and India. Although the artistic legacy of the Roerichs has been investigated from a variety of angles for the past almost one hundred years of Roerichology, it is rather surprising that the question of the philosophy of colour has been neglected. In the given article the question of the philosophy of colour will be considered primarily from the point of view of Living Ethics as well as from the point of view of the literary legacy of Nicholas and Svetoslav Roerichs. And, of course, we take into account the paintings of the Roerichs, both the father and the son, as their paintings speak for themselves.

Key words: artistic legacy of the Roerichs, “Living Ethics”, philosophy, semiotics, colour, light.