Raja Balwant Singh revering Krishna and Radha
Attributed to Nainsukh
Jasrota, Himachal Pradesh
Opaque watercolor, ink, silver and gold on paper
In this intensely personal image of a devotee, Balwant Singh stands in
veneration of a vision of Krishna and Radha enthroned on a gilded and
cushioned throne. The setting is a terrace in his own court, offset with
a beautifully decorated arched niche, painted in a manner to suggest
pietre dure ( parchin kari ). An orange-colored canopy projects
diagonally into the composition. The remaining space, occupied by the
devotee, is devoid of descriptive or decorative details, and a simple
vista of a river and hills beyond completes the composition. Subtly,
Nainsukh created two contrasting worlds, one occupied by the deity and
the other by his devotee (bhakta) standing at the threshold. Balwant
Singh gazes on Krishna (dharana) and in turn receives his Lord’s grace.
About the Artist:
Nainsukh
Active ca. 1735–78, first at Guler, then at Jasrota for Mian Zorawar
Singh and his son Balwant Singh; son of Pandit Seu, brother of Manaku,
father of Kama, Gaudhu, Nikka, and Ranjha
Nainsukh, the younger
brother of Manaku, is one of the most exceptional figures in Pahari
painting. Like his brother, he was schooled in the stylistic idiom
developed by his father, Pandit Seu. But while Manaku based his career
at the court of Guler on the fundamental principles of his father,
Nainsukh took another path, one that is apparent in both his choice of
picture subjects and his unmistakable style. Although his early work is
insufficiently documented, there are indications that Nainsukh was
familiar with the pictures of the Mughal painters and borrowed from them
in matters of composition and style.
The best documented phase
of Nainsukh’s career begins with his departure from the family atelier
for Jasrota, where around 1740, he began painting for a ruler by the
name of Mian Zorawar Singh and his son Balwant Singh. Nansukh depicted
Balwant Singh in countless paintings that attest to the painter’s
incredibly sensitive ability to capture specific situations and moods.
His relationship with Balwant Singh must have been a close one, and the
range of pictures produced in this period is broad, capturing the
minutia of the ruler’s daily life — the prince having his beard trimmed,
looking out of the window of his palace, relaxing in front of the
fireplace, or writing a letter. Even given the closeness of the
relationship, it is extraordinary that in at least two pictures
depicting scenes of the prince’s life, Nainsukh appears in a relatively
prominent position; one of those works shows Balwant Singh viewing a
painting. One can easily imagine the painter shadowing his patron and
using his precise gift for observation to register every detail of what
he saw, however unimportant. An outstanding example of this is his
depiction of a temporary tented memorial shrine on which hangs an amulet
that Balwant Singh is frequently pictured wearing, suggesting that the
urn contains the ashes of Nainsukh’s patron.
Nainsukh’s gift
for precise observation and his interest in realistic pictures indicate
that he pursued an artistic vision wholly different from that of his
brother Manaku, who worked within more traditional parameters. The works
by the sons of Manaku and Nainsukh appear to be more substantially
indebted to Nainsukh’s painterly approach than to Manaku’s.
© The Metropolitan Museum of Art
No comments:
Post a Comment