A FOLIO FROM A BHAGAVATA PURANA SERIES:KRISHNA VENUGOPALA


ORISSA, CIRCA 1775-1800 Opaque watercolor on paper. Image: 5 1/4 x 11 7/8 in. (13.3 x 30.2 cm);Folio: 9 1/4 x 12 5/8 in. (23.4 x 32 cm)
|Krishna draws peacocks, monkeys, small birds, and deer with the divine melody of his flute. The earth rises on each side and the dark sky above curves to accentuate the magnetic draw of the god and his power over all the elements. Two other pages from this series are in the Brooklyn Museum of Art (1993.199 & 1990.185.1). Others were sold at Christie's, New York, 16 September 2008, lot 456 and Bonhams, New York, 18 September 2013, lot 167. Published Ludwig Habighorst, Blumen – Bäume – Göttergärten, Ragaputra Edition, Koblenz, 2011, p.43, fig.23. Provenance Sotheby's, New York, 10 December 1981, lot 42A Sotheby's, London, 16 April 1984, lot 41 Private German Collection