Now, “esoteric” is to most ears either a meaningless or a hateful word: what do I mean by it in this connection? I should perform for Roerich an ill service if I failed to answer such a question, because it would be to avoid mentioning what seems to me the very raison d’etre of his journey, his art, his life. Though sincere and simple, it is a character compounded of such unusual elements as to be on its esoteric side uncomprehended. For in whatever medium Roerich works, or in whatever he is expressing, there shines forth not only the artist, but the embodied intelligence- the man, the whole character of the man. But “Altai-Himalaya,” though penned on horseback and in the tent, under conditions the most difficult, is as much more, and as much richer than the ordinary diary of travel, as his paintings of the Himalayas are more than a literal transcription of some of the earth’s most magnificent scenery. “Altai-Himalaya” is the record of his mission, just as his series of pictures “Tibetan Paths,” “Banners of the East,” “His Country,” are records in terms of paint. On May 8, 1923, Nicholas Roerich left America for India, and he has been wandering about in remote, dangerous and seldom- visited parts of Asia ever since.
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