Page 135 - September 20th 2021, Indian and Himalayan Art Christie's NYC

Krishna and Radha Meet; India, Pahari Hills, Kangra, Master of the first generation after Manaku and Nainsukh,
circa 1775-1780; 6 7/8 x 10 ¾ in. (17.5 x 27.5 cm.); permanent loan from the collection of Eberhard and Barbara
Fischer, Museum Rietberg.

Since the series’ rediscovery in the Tehri Garhwal Darbar by N.C. Mehta Set upon a solemn landscape, the artists demonstrate a deep
around 1926, a large consensus has formed on the dating and authorship understanding of the metaphorical value of nature described by
of the great series. The accompanying colophon is nearly an exact copy Jayadeva. With verses expounding on the flowers of the fragrant
of that of the ‘First Gita Govinda series’ of Basohli, bearing an inscription umbrella tree, the seascape at Puri, and the vakula and tamala
which attributes the work to Manaku, 1730, likely as an homage to trees, Jayadeva cast the sacred landscape of Braj after the Orissan
the master of the previous generation. A collection of sketches by countryside with which he was so familiar. The painters, on the other
Nainsukh between 1762 and 1778, now at the National Museum, New hand, have clearly placed the characters within the Kangra Valley,
Delhi, establish that Nainsukh had played a role in designing the series, much of the work set on the meandering banks of the Beas River,
although it is demonstrably the work of a son, or sons, of Manaku and symbolizing the Yamuna. Throughout the series, the landscape is
Nainsukh who undertook the actual execution of the painting. The incredibly descriptive, to the point where nature becomes a character
completion of the work in 1780 would also be a reasonable date had in and of itself. In the present scene, the sorrowful Radha vents to her
it been prepared for the 1781 wedding of Maharaja Sansar Chand (r. sakhi in a sparsely forested field. Dark clouds form over the distant,
1775-1823), a romantically inclined Krishna devotee, who employed the empty hills, her lover Krishna nowhere in sight. Compare the work
sons of Manaku and Nainsukh at his court in Kangra. In 1829, Sansar to a painting from the Edwin Binney 3rd collection at the San Diego
Chand's two daughters married Raja Sudarshan Shah of Tehri Garhwal, Museum of Art (acc. no. 1990.1270), where Krishna anxiously awaits
which is how the series is presumed to have come into the Tehri Garhwal Radha amongst a thicket he has prepared for their romantic tryst. The
ancestral collection. sharp, jagged course through which the artist rendered the river reflects
Krishna’s growing agitation and uncertainty in Radha’s faith. Finally,
In the present painting, Radha expounds her frustrations to her sakhi, or when Radha joins Krishna, the couple finds themselves encased in the
close confidant. She is aware that her beloved Krishna has gone off with most lush vegetation seen throughout the series, with thick forestry,
other women and is beginning to lose faith in their divine love. Wearing blossoming floral sprays and songbirds perched upon outstretched tree
a diaphanous dress and intricately executed gold, emerald, and pearl branches, as seen in a painting on loan to the Museum Rietberg from
jewelry, her elegantly shaded face pronounces both indignation and the collection of Eberhard and Barbara Fischer.
dejection. The scene evokes viraha dukha, the pain of separation, evident
in the deeply hurt and sorrowful Radha as she calls on her confidante to Additional pages from this series are held in esteemed private and
confront Krishna. The inscription on the verso of the painting relate the public collections throughout the world, including several paintings in
following passage: the Kronos Collection on loan to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the
Museum Rietberg, Zurich, the Eberhard and Barbara Fischer collection,
These spring time days are hard to get through. The ears are in a feverish the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (acc. no. 85.30), the Los Angeles
state, for they are continuously and cruelly struck by the joyful melodies County Museum of Art (acc. no. M.84.222.1), the Edwin Binney 3rd
that the koel trills forth from the blossoming branches of the mango, which Collection at the San Diego Museum of Art (acc. no. 1990.1270), the
are shaken by the bees attracted by their honey and fragrance. Now the Philadelphia Museum of Art (acc. no. 2004-149-75) and Musée Guimet.
hearts of lonely travelers, who are away from their mates, are pierced with A cropped half-page from this series depicting Radha and Krishna
anguish, and derive satisfaction from a dreamy vision of embrace with in union sold at Christie’s New York, 17 September 2013, lot 366 for
their sweethearts. $207,750. More recently, a page from the ‘Lambagraon’ Gita Govinda
series sold at Christie’s New York, 17 March 2021, lot 436 for $575,000.
Translation by Barbara Stoler Miller