Svetoslav or Svyatoslav Nikolayevich Roerich (23 October 1904 – 30 January 1993) was a Russian-Indian painter based in India. He was the son of Helena and Nicholas Roerich and studied from a young age under his father's tutelage. He studied architecture in England in 1919 and entered Columbia University's school of architecture in 1920. He won the Grand Prix of the Sesquicentennial Exposition in Philadelphia in 1926.

Biography

He lived for many years in India where Jawaharlal Nehru awarded him the International Award and the Padma Bhushan. His paintings of Nehru and Indira Gandhi, adorn the historic Central Parliament Hall in New Delhi. He was married in 1945 to an Indian movie star Devika Rani, who was once married to producer Himanshu Rai and known as "The First Lady of the Indian Screen". Roerich was born a citizen of the Russian Empire, but became stateless after the Bolshevik Revolution. Resident in India since the 1930s, Roerich became an Indian citizen on 21 March 1960. Roerich died in 1993 at the age of 88 and is buried in Bangalore, India. He was named an Honorary Academician of the Art Academy of the USSR, and was an honorary member of the Bulgarian Academy of Art. He had a large plantation on the outskirts of Bangalore, called Tataguni, on Kanakpura road. He and Devika Rani lived here; after their respective deaths in August 2011, the Government of Karnataka acquired the estate after the Supreme Court of India passed the verdict in favour of them. Roerich family's residence in Manali, India, is now home for a gallery of paintings. It is managed by the International Roerich Trust and has been named Roerich Heritage Museum. The gallery was founded by Svetoslav Roerich in 1962.

Work

Roerich mainly painted landscapes and portraits. His paintings were first exhibited in India in 1936–1937 His portrait of Indira Gandhi was unveiled in the Central Hall of the Parliament of India. European art historians have considered his paintings to be influenced by expressionism.

Honours and awards

Family tree