LOT 0385 AN ILLUSTRATION FROM A MAHABHARATA SERIES: KRISHNA AND BALAR...
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folio30.8×43.5cm;image29.5×42.5cm
拍品描述:Owing to the patronage of Maharaja Sansar Chand (r. 1775-1823) and the artistic direction of Purkhu (active c. 1780-c.1820), Kangra is remembered as a great center of Pahari miniature painting. A skilled portrait artist, Purkhu is lauded for his distinguished and individualized portraits within his works, often noted for veering towards journalistic goals over idealized or fantastical qualities. His works documenting the public and private life of Sansar Chand are thus unsurprisingly rigorous in their attention to detail, and one can assume, loyalty to accuracy. Notwithstanding, Purkhu’s works on religious themes have proved his capability for innovation and passion, creating large series on the Harivamsa, Shiva Purana, Ramayana, Kedara Kalpa, Gita Govinda, and the present Mahabharata series. This illustration from the Mahabharata depicts Krishna and his brother Balarama arriving at a palace to meet the five Pandava brothers who are accompanied by Drona, their guru; Bhishma, their grand-uncle; and Vyasa, the chronicler of the Mahabharata. The figures are identified by small inscriptions in white Devanagari script. Krishna fought on the side of the Pandavas against their cousins, the Kauravas, during the battle of Kurukshetra. In many narrative paintings attributed to Purkhu and his workshop, architecture dominates with a profusion of courtyards, balconies and windows. With a lack of spatial depth observed in these works, the figures closest to the lower end of the painting are usually smaller in what appears to be reversed perspective. The most important figures are generally placed in the center and rendered the largest, as illustrated in the present painting. The artists could merely be creating a pictorial space appropriate to their needs. Although there are no known works signed by Purkhu, a number of extensive large-sized series have been associated with him and his family. A Kangra artist at the court of Maharaja Sansar Chand (c.1765-1823), Purkhu was active circa 1780-1820 and the master of a large workshop. Goswamy and Fischer mention a list of works attributed to the family workshop of Purkhu (M.C. Beach, E. Fischer, B.N. Goswamy, Masters of Indian Painting, 1650-1900, Volume II, Zurich, 2011, pp. 720-721). A painting from this Mahabharata series sold at Christie's New York, 22 September 2021, lot 461, for $112,500.
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