11th Apr, 2025 11:00
TWO-DAY AUCTION: Fine Asian Art, Buddhism and Hinduism
624
A KANGRA SCHOOL PAINTING FROM A GITA GOVINDA SERIES DEPICTING CAREFREE KRISHNA, GULER, 18TH-19TH CENTURY
Sold for €1,170
including Buyer's Premium
Northern India, Himachal Pradesh. Opaque pigments and gold paint on paper. Set inside a frame, behind glass. Intricately painted with Krishna fondling the breasts of a gopi, while another milkmaid clings on to him, a surprised Radha to one side, all set within a verdant landscape with a meandering river and lush trees bearing flowers.
Provenance: From a old private collection of Indian miniature paintings in Sweden.
Condition: Excellent condition with minor wear.
Dimensions: Image size 15.7 x 26 cm, Size incl. frame 24.3 x 34.1 cm
This luminous painting illustrates an episode from the literary masterpiece the Gita Govinda composed by the poet Jayadeva in the twelfth century. The text and paintings together celebrate the spiritual and erotic love of Krishna and Radha. Here, Krishna is the human soul who engages in amorous sport with village maidens, representing the delights of the illusory world. He ignores Radha, who is the personification of intellectual and moral beauty. When ‘reminded’ by the messenger, he returns to Radha, who weans him away from the pleasures of the world of senses. Ultimately Krishna is freed from sensuous distractions and his union with Radha, the personification of divine love and beauty, takes place.
The Kangra School of miniature paintings and text illustration flourished mid-18th to early 19th century, in the mountain foothills of Himachal, from Basohli, Guler, Kangra to Kulu. The style migrated in the early 1700s from Kashmir where Mughal miniature art had been in vogue. The primary patrons were Dalip Singh of Guler, Amrit Pal of Basohli, Sansar Chand of Kangra, and others. The latter was a staunch Vaishnava and supported many themes related to Krishna. Thus, illustrations executed to accompany Jayadeva’s Gita Govinda, the most famous lyrics on the Radha-Krishna leela, was a popular theme in the Kangra School.
Literature comparison:
Compare a closely related miniature painting of Carefree Krishna, Guler, dated c. 1775, in the Museum Rietberg, inventory number REF 33.
Northern India, Himachal Pradesh. Opaque pigments and gold paint on paper. Set inside a frame, behind glass. Intricately painted with Krishna fondling the breasts of a gopi, while another milkmaid clings on to him, a surprised Radha to one side, all set within a verdant landscape with a meandering river and lush trees bearing flowers.
Provenance: From a old private collection of Indian miniature paintings in Sweden.
Condition: Excellent condition with minor wear.
Dimensions: Image size 15.7 x 26 cm, Size incl. frame 24.3 x 34.1 cm
This luminous painting illustrates an episode from the literary masterpiece the Gita Govinda composed by the poet Jayadeva in the twelfth century. The text and paintings together celebrate the spiritual and erotic love of Krishna and Radha. Here, Krishna is the human soul who engages in amorous sport with village maidens, representing the delights of the illusory world. He ignores Radha, who is the personification of intellectual and moral beauty. When ‘reminded’ by the messenger, he returns to Radha, who weans him away from the pleasures of the world of senses. Ultimately Krishna is freed from sensuous distractions and his union with Radha, the personification of divine love and beauty, takes place.
The Kangra School of miniature paintings and text illustration flourished mid-18th to early 19th century, in the mountain foothills of Himachal, from Basohli, Guler, Kangra to Kulu. The style migrated in the early 1700s from Kashmir where Mughal miniature art had been in vogue. The primary patrons were Dalip Singh of Guler, Amrit Pal of Basohli, Sansar Chand of Kangra, and others. The latter was a staunch Vaishnava and supported many themes related to Krishna. Thus, illustrations executed to accompany Jayadeva’s Gita Govinda, the most famous lyrics on the Radha-Krishna leela, was a popular theme in the Kangra School.
Literature comparison:
Compare a closely related miniature painting of Carefree Krishna, Guler, dated c. 1775, in the Museum Rietberg, inventory number REF 33.
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