Killing of Kamsa (left), Figure of Youthful Krishna (right)

PROPERTY FROM THE FRITZ SCHLEICHER FAMILY COLLECTION

Oil on canvas
14 x 20 in. (35.6 x 50.9 cm.)

PROVENANCE:
The current lot was acquired by Fritz Schleicher in 1903, when he purchased the Ravi Varma Fine Arts Lithographic Press and its contents from the artist Raja Ravi Varma.

LITERATURE:
Rupika Chawla, Raja Ravi Varma, Painter of Colonial India, Ahmedabad, 2010, p. 166, detail illustrated and pp. 332- 333, illustrated.

This third Raja Ravi Varma painting in the group from the Fritz Schleicher collection, is a striking oil painting depicting two separate religious scenes painted on one canvas, both based on the life of Krishna. The first depicts Krishna as a child killing Kamsa, and the second unfinished panel, depicts a youthful Krishna holding a bow in his outstretched arm. The two panels were small format paintings that were being prepared as exemplars for oleographs at the Press.

In reference to the current work, Rupika Chawla states, ‘... an unresolved problem can be found on the surface of a painting itself, left there by a dissatisfied painter. The brush can falter as it moves towards completion, groping for the correct angle or image. Ravi Varma never completed a small Krishna, intended for an oleograph. Perhaps it was forgotten; maybe there was no time to return and resolve the image. The red lines and smudged areas are proof of this indecision. The background on the other hand, would have been completed with greater certitude had Ravi Varma succeeded in manipulating Krishna’s figure to his advantage. The unfinished archway and tower behind Krishna is very near in composition to the background of Mysore Stables. The same archway was also used in a drawing from his sketchpad but which was never carried forward into a painting (Figs 8.29 and 8.30). The palaces that Ravi Varma saw in Mysore, Baroda, Trivandrum and other states were absorbed into the overall composition of a work and helped shape the architecture of his mythological paintings.’ (Rupika Chawla, Raja Ravi Varma Painter of Colonial India, Ahmedabad, 2010, p. 329)

The left panel of the painting, although small in format, is replete with energy and drama. The diminutive form of Krishna, is seen straddling the chest of the evil Kamsa, who had usurped the kingdom of Mathura from his parents. He is seen throttling his uncle, whilst his loyal older brother, Balarama, stands behind him, holding a sword ready to assist if required. Kamsa’s crown has toppled from his head, and lies in the foreground; a symbol of the inevitable loss of kingdom that had been prophesied many years before. In the pillared verandah beyond, men and women look on in despair. The painting forms part of a suite of painting sometimes termed the Krishna Series. The childhood works include the Birth of Krishna, Kamsa Maya, Yashoda Krishna (lot 21), and Krishna Freeing His Imprisoned Parents after Killing Kamsa, which are now dispersed in various collections, including two in the Maharaja Fatehsingh Museum, Vadodara. Despite its small format, the current work can be seen as part of the ‘Puranic’ style of paintings that Varma usually depicted on a much larger scale, (for further discussions see lot 21). Regardless, the scene is pivotal to the story, and it is full of the theatricality and dramatic gestures that these types of paintings required.

In the unfinished panel on the right of the canvas, Krishna’s childhood is over. Instead, the audience is confronted by a tall, thin-waisted youth, who is armed as the warrior prince, Arjuna’s future charioteer. In the distance, elephants and faint outlines of soldiers and cavalry can be seen gathering before a gateway, as if preparing to march to battle. The artist is clearly undecided about the posture of the arm clasping the bow, as he has scrubbed out the form of a bent arm, and appears to consider an alternative pose. The new pose, however, seems to have foreshortened the arm in an unnatural manner, which may have led to further indecision. The work provides invaluable insight into the manner in which the artist worked and reworked a canvas, until he was happy with the overall composition. It is unclear why the second work was left unfinished, but it provides vital and interesting revelations about artistic process and the manner in which Raja Ravi Varma built up his canvases from the early preparatory sketches to the final finished oil painting.

REGISTERED ANTIQUITY – NON-EXPORTABLE ITEM
(Please refer to the Terms and Conditions of Sale at the back of the catalogue)
Condition: The colours of the left panel of the painting are slightly richer and brighter than the catalogue illustration, especially within the red tones. The painting has been recently cleaned. Previous signs of consolidation and retouching are visible. When examined under UV light, three diagonal lines of retouching are visible extending from the upper left corner about half way into the canvas, along the upper edge, above the heads of Balarama and the distant courtiers, partially visible to the naked eye. A further vertical line of retouching is seen running down Balarama’s right leg and into the figure of Kamsa. Further scattered areas of retouching along the lower edge and a web-like pattern of consolidation in the upper right corner of the canvas. A horizontal line of retouching runs beneath the head of Kamsa, partially visible to the naked eye, and across the ankles of the standing Krishna, with a few minor spots in the background around the head of standing Krishna. Two 1 cm. square patches of earlier repair to the reverse of the canvas, one corresponds to the left ankle of standing Krishna, the other to Kamsa’s left bent knee. Overall good condition.