Portrait of Devika Rani Roerich. 1946. Tempera, charcoal, gouache on canvas. 65 x 52,5. Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath, Bangalore, Karnataka, India.

Portrait of Devika Rani Roerich. 1946. Tempera, charcoal, gouache on canvas. 69 x 56,5. Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath, Bangalore, Karnataka, India.

Mme. Devika Rani Roerich. 1946. Oil on canvas. 121,1 x 91. State Museum of Oriental Arts, Moscow, Russia.

Mme. Devika Rani Roerich. 1951. Oil on canvas. 136,6 x 91. State Museum of Oriental Arts, Moscow, Russia.

Portrait of Devika Rani Roerich. 1951. Oil on canvas. 91 x 22. Birla Academy of Art and Culture, Kolkata, Bangla, India.

Portrait of Devika Rani Roerich. 1953. Oil on canvas. 38 x 37,5. Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath, Bangalore, Karnataka, India.Svetoslav Roerich.

In 1945, Svetoslav Roerich married Devika Rani, the first lady of Indian cinema and grand-niece of Rabindranath Tagore, a sublimely beautiful woman. The people of Kulu celebrated the wedding. All 365 devtas of the valley sent their representatives to meet Devika. The locals sang and danced and threw flowers on to the palanquin on which Devika was carried.

Devika comes across in many of his paintings depicted with flowers in her hands. The force of bright colours used in the paintings at the exclusive art gallery of his works at Karnataka Chitrakala Parishad, Bangalore, is amazing. According to the Director of the Parishad, M.S. Nanjunda Rao, Svetoslav prepared many of his basic colours himself, based on his knowledge of Himalayan plants.

Devika Rani Roerich is not only one of the most colourful personalities of India, but the darling of film fans of more than two generations. She was educated in England and while at School, she received a scholarship from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts and the Royal Academy of Music in London to study acting and music.

She was acclaimed as India's greatest film actress, and was popularly known as the "First Lady of the Indian screen".

In 1945 at the height of her film career, Devika Rani decided to retire from the Bombay Talkies Ltd. She married Dr.Svetoslav Roerich, she was a member of the Central Government Audio Visual Education Board. She was also nominated to the National Academy of Dance, Drama, Music and Films, the Sangeet Natak Akademi, Delhi, as a nominee of the Central Government and was a member of the Executive Board of the National Academy, Member of the Lalit Kala Akademi and the National Handicrafts Board and Member of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations.