Page 222 - Himalayan Art Macrh 19 2018 Bonhams

3107
RADHA AND KRISHNA WATCHING A STORM
ATTRIBUTED TO PURKHU, KANGRA, CIRCA 1810-1820
Opaque watercolor and gold on paper.
Image: 7 7/8 x 5 1/2 in. (20 x 14 cm);
Folio: 8 3/4 x 6 1/2 in. (22.3 x 16.4 cm)

$30,000 - 50,000
The couple relaxes in each other’s arms, reclining on a canopied bed placed on the
palace balcony so they can enjoy the drama of the monsoon night together. Having
performed her final duties, the maid retreats in a bow to leave the couple to themselves.
The streaks of golden lightning set against the deep black clouds invokes the electricity
between the divine and his mortal love. In the distance, gopas (herdsmen) drive their
cattle to the shelter of small huts, and white egrets flee in a meandering line that follows
the contours of the green hills. The nayika is reunited with her hero, and she embraces
him with tender affection.

This painting reflects the ideals of ‘love in union’ known as samyoga. As noted by M.S.
Randhawa in Kangra Paintings on Love, Bombay, 1962, p.129:
“Paintings illustrating love in the union during the rains are numerous. The onset of the
monsoon with dark rolling clouds, the play of lightning, the flight of egrets and Saras
cranes against slate blue clouds, and the shouting of the peacocks have a strange
fascination for the India mind. The Hindu poets have sung of the joys of rains, and the
Kangra artists have given expression to that joy in their paintings.”

In addition to the current page, there are only three other known pages from this series.
Two are in the Indian Museum, Kolkata (acc.nos.659 & 649); Goswamy The Essence
of Indian Art, p.61, no.29, and another in the Government Museum and Art Gallery,
Chandigarh, ascribed to Purkhu, see Goswamy and Fischer, Pahari Masters, 1992,
p.387, no.170. Another related series dated circa 1805 bearing Purkhu’s name is in the
San Diego Museum of Art (Goswamy, Domains of Wonder, San Diego, 2005, p.240,
no.104). Note the near identical treatment of Krishna’s crown, hands, textiles, and
Radha’s scarf arrangement.

Provenance
Theo Brown and Paul Woner, San Francisco, 1970s-82
Private Collection, Los Angeles

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