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Abd al-Samad
89 The Infant Krishna journeying from Gokula to Vrindavan: folio from a Bhagavata Purana series Guler, Himachal Pradesh, ca. 1780 Opaque watercolor on paper, 10 7 ⁄8 x 14 in. (27.6 x 35.6 cm) National Museum, New Delhi (49.19/239) Published: Randhawa, Kangra Paintings of the Bhagavata Purana (1960), pl. 5
In the classic image of journeying in India, we are so taken up with the evocative description of the everyday toils of traveling that we
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could overlook the subject of the painting, the infant Krishna, who is seen at right seated on a simple buffalo-drawn carriage. This is Krishna’s version of the biblical Flight into Egypt; he was sent from his palace to the countryside to live with foster parents in order to escape a prediction of infanticide. The intensity of the foreground activity contrasts with the quiet calm of the landscape beyond, which is a forecast of Krishna’s happy childhood years to be spent in the village of Vrindavan with his foster parents, Yasoda and Nanda.
“The most important Indian painting exhibition for decades, “Wonder of the Age” has much to engage, delight and educate specialists and is as inspiring an introduction as a neophyte could hope to find. If you cannot go in person to New York, be sure to buy the catalogue. It is an education and a treat. ” —The Economist
ART
Wonder of the Age
Master Painters of India 1100–1900 John Guy and Jorrit Britschgi 224 pages, 165 colour illustrations 3 maps 9.25 x 10.25” (235 x 267 mm), hc ISBN: 978-81-89995-60-7 (Mapin) ₹2100 | $45 | £30 2011 • World rights
John Guy is Florence and Herbert Irving Curator of the Arts of South and Southeast Asia, Department of Asian Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
Jacket illustrations: (front) Shah Jahan riding a stallion: page from the Kevorkian Album, Mughal court at Agra, ca. 1628. Detail of No. 40; (back) Krishna flirting with the gopis to Radha’s sorrow: folio from a Gita Govinda series, Kangra, Himachal Pradesh, ca. 1760. Detail of No. 95
Jacket design by Rita Jules, Miko McGinty Inc.
other titles of interest: The Metropolitan Museum of Art 1000 Fifth Avenue The Imperial Image:Paintings for New York, New York 10028 the Mughal Court www.metmuseum.org by Milo Beach
Vishnu:Hinduism’s Blue-Skinned Saviour Mapin Publishing Edited by Joan Cumins www.mapinpub.com
other titles of interest: John Guy is Florence and Herbert Irving Mapin Publishing The Imperial Image: Paintings for Curator of the Arts of South and Southeast www. mapinpub.com the Mughal Court by Milo Beach Asia, Department of Asian Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Vishnu: Hinduism’s Blue Skinned Savior edited by Joan Cumins Jorrit Britschgi is Curator of Indian printed in singapore Painting, Museum Rietberg, Zurich.
Printed in sinGaPore Jacket illustrations: (front) Shah Jahan riding a stallion: page from the Kevorkian Album, Mughal court at Agra, ca. 1628. Detail of No. 40; (back) Krishna flirting with the gopis to Radha’s sorrow: folio from a Gita Govinda series, John Guy is Florence and Herbert Irving Kangra, Himachal Pradesh, ca. 1760. Detail of No. 95 Curator of the Arts of South and Southeast Asia, Department of Asian Art, The
