Gouache et or sur papier.
Illustration du Gita Govinda.
Radha est assise sous un arbre, au bord d'un cours d'eau et se retourne vers une jeune femme qui l'approche. La rive est peuplée de fleurs et d'arbres ; sur l'un des arbres fruitiers sont perchés des oiseaux.
Au revers, quatre lignes de devanagari.
Quelques reprises d'éclats.
Miniature : 15,3 x 25,3 cm (6 x 10 in.)
Page : 17,5 x 27,3 cm (6¾ x 10¾ in.)

Cette superbe page provient d'une série de miniatures considérées comme des plus remarquables de l'école de Kangra, illustrant un Gita Govinda probablement commandité par la Rajah Sansar Chand à l'occasion de son mariage et exécuté vers 1775-1780 par un membre de l'atelier du célèbre peintre Nainsukh.

Le Gita Govinda (Le Chant du Bouvier), poème composé au 12e siècle par Jayadeva, relate les amours de Krishna et Radha.

Illustré par de multiples peintres au cours des siècles, la version attribuée au peintre de cet atelier est au dire de tous les historiens d'art " la quintessence même de l'art pictural élaboré à Kangra " (R.Hurel-A.Okada).

Selon B.N.Goswamy and E.Fischer, " This series ranks among the finest achievements of Pahari painting. "
M.S.Randhawa écrit : " The paintings of the Gita Govinda are the finest Kangra paintings in existence, and represent Kangra at its best. They have a strange dreamlike beauty, and have an air of tenderness and refinement. Their line has the rhytmic beauty of the swirling current of the Beas, and of flying lianas clasping the trunks of the giant trees. In them we breathe the fragrance of a very refined mind which was extremely sensitive to the beauty of Nature and female form. In them the Kangra ideal of female beauty, willowy, serene and passionate finds its best expression. "

Bibliographie :
W.G.Archer, Indian Paintings from the Punjab Hills, London, 1973 : vol.1, pp.292-293 et Vol.2, Pl.33.
D.J.Ehnbom, Indian Miniatures, The Ehrenfeld Collection, New York, AFA, 1985-1987 : n°119
B.N.Goswamy - E.Fischer, Pahari Painters - Court Painters of Northern India, Musée Rietberg, Zurich, 1992 : pp.312-331, nos.130-137, figs.108-109.
R.Hurel-A.Okada, Pouvoir et Désir, Miniatures Indiennes du San Diego Museum of Art, catalogue d'exposition, 2002-2003 : pp.134-135, n°51.
P.Pal, The Classical Tradition in Rajput Painting, Walter Collection, New York, 1978 : n°66.
M.S.Randhawa - W.G.Archer, Kangra Paintings of the Gita Govinda, New Delhi, 1963.

This superb page comes from a series of miniatures considered to be the most remarkable from the school of Kangra, illustrating a Gita Govinda, probably commissioned by the Rajah Sansar Chand on the occasion of his marriage, and painted around 1775-1780 by a member of the studio of the celebrated artist Nainsukh.

The Gita Govinda (The song of Govinda), a poem written in the 12th century by Jayadeva, tells of the relationship between Krishna and Radha.

Illustrated by many artists over the centuries, the version attributed to the painter of this studio, is, according to art historians " the essence itself of the visual arts developed in Kangra " (R.Hurel-A.Okada).


ILLUSTRATION TO THE FIRST KANGRA GITA GOVINDA, RADHA AND A CONFIDANTE ON THE RIVERSIDE, ATTRIBUTED TO A MASTER OF THE 1ST GENERATION AFTER NAINSUKH, CIRCA 1775-1780