Nicholas Konstantinovich Roerich was heavily infuenced by his wife, Helena, who was a woman of high intelligence and eclectic tastes. She "walked in her own path" as far as religion went. The two founded the Agni Yoga Society, which espoused a living ethic encompassing and synthesizing the philosophies and religious teachings of all ages. For the son of an affluent lawyer in Saint Petersburg, Russia, during the late 1890s...this avant-garde thinking must have caused quite a stir. In his paintings you can see the influences I've discussed here. Nicholas Roerich died in Kullu on December 13, 1947. His body was cremated and its ashes buried on a slope facing the mountains he loved and portrayed in many of his nearly seven thousand works.
