Krishna fluting, folio from a Dasavatar series
date: label: Date
content: ca. 1730
name: label: Artist
content: Attributed to the Master of the Court of Mankot (active early 18th century)
notes: label: Description
content: Beneath an arched bower exploding with blossoming creepers and flowers, Krishna, charmingly poised on one foot, entertains attentively adoring gopis with music from his flute. The painting’s vibrant colors, particularly the vivid red ground, and the ardently focused gazes of the lotus-eyed gopis attest to the powerful currents of emotion connecting the blue-skinned Krishna and his devotees. As an allusion to his divine status, the artist represented Krishna standing upon an open lotus flower that rests on a marble throne inlaid with precious gems. The vines encircling the tree trunks are a visual instantiation of a well-attested metaphor for the relationship between a woman (vine) and her lover (tree).
label: Label
content: This folio is one in a series (dasavatara) illustrating the ten avatars of Vishnu. Krishna is the eighth incarnation of Vishnu; his exploits are described in the Mahabharata, the tenth book of the Bhagavata Purana, and numerous other poems and poetic treatises from the Gita Govinda to the Sur Sagar.
label: Provenance
content: Raja Dhruv Dev Chand of Lambagraon, descendant of the Kangra rulers
label: Provenance
content: Sharma, Delhi [1]
label: Provenance
content: To 1984
label: Provenance
content: Kapoor Galleries, Inc., New York, New York [2]
label: Provenance
content: From 1984 to 2002
label: Provenance
content: Paul F. Walter (1935-2017), New York, New York, purchased from Kapoor Galleries, Inc., New York, New York in 1984 [3]
label: Provenance
content: 2002
label: Provenance
content: Sale, New York, Sotheby’s, Important Indian Miniatures from The Paul F. Walter Collection, November 14, 2002, lot 65: “Illustration to a Dasavatara series” [4]
label: Provenance
content: From 2002 to 2018
label: Provenance
content: Catherine Glynn Benkaim, Beverly Hills, California, purchased at auction, Sotheby’s, New York, “Important Indian Miniatures from The Paul F. Walter Collection,” November 14, 2002, lot no. 65: “Illustration to a Dasavatara series” [5]
label: Provenance
content: From 2018
label: Provenance
content: Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, partial gift and purchase from Catherine Glynn Benkaim [6]
label: Provenance
content: Notes:
label: Provenance
content: [1] According to Catherine Benkaim.
label: Provenance
content: [2] See Sotheby’s auction catalogue from the sale in New York. Sotheby’s, Important Indian Miniatures from The Paul F. Walter Collection, November 14, 2002, lot 65: “Illustration to a Dasavatara series.”
label: Provenance
content: [3] See note 2. See also Pal, P., American Collectors Asian Art, (Bombay: Marg Publications, 1986), pp. 205-206.
label: Provenance
content: [4] See note 2.
label: Provenance
content: [5] See note 2.
label: Provenance
content: [6] See Acquisition Consideration Form, object file, Collections Management Office.
label: Collection
content: National Museum of Asian Art Collection
label: Exhibition History
content: Vishnu: Hindu's Blue-skinned Saviour (February to October, 2011)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Raja of Lambagraon
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Sharma
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Ramesh Kapoor
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Paul F. Walter (1935-2017)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Catherine Glynn Benkaim (born 1946)
place: label: Origin
content: Mankot, Uttarakhand state, India
topic: label: Topic
content: Krishna
label: Topic
content: music
label: Topic
content: Gopi
label: Topic
content: flute
label: Topic
content: India
label: Topic
content: South Asian and Himalayan Art
label: Topic
content: Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection
setName: label: See more items in
content: Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Collection
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Purchase and partial gift from the Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection — funds provided by the Friends of the National Museum of Asian Art
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: S2018.1.60
objectType: label: Type
content: Painting
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: CC0
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: Opaque watercolor and gold on paper
label: Dimensions
content: H x W (painting): 22.2 × 14.6 cm (8 3/4 × 5 3/4 in)
label: Dimensions
content: H x W (overall): 26 × 20.3 cm (10 1/4 × 8 in)