Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), Los Angeles, California, USA
Location History:
From the Nasli and Alice Heeramaneck Collection; acquired by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art through Museum Associates Purchase.
This miniature painting is attributed to Golu of Nurpur and belongs to the Nurpur Rasamanjari, a series based on the Sanskrit text Rasamanjari by the fifteenth-century Bengali poet Bhanudatta. The Rasamanjari classifies different types of lovers and explores their emotional states, particularly within the traditions of love poetry. This particular folio represents the Praudha Proshita Bhartrika, or the mature heroine whose husband or beloved is away. LACMA dates the work to approximately 1710–1720 and identifies its place of production as Nurpur in Himachal Pradesh.
The composition shows two richly dressed women seated on a terrace beneath an elaborate pavilion. The woman on the right is the principal heroine, while the other woman appears to be her companion or confidante. The strong red border, yellow-and-orange striped terrace, blue garments and carefully patterned textiles create a vivid decorative effect. The relatively flat areas of colour, bold outlines and stylized figures are characteristic of the highly decorative Pahari miniature tradition associated with Nurpur and Basohli.
The emotional theme of the painting is separation. According to LACMA's curatorial description, the verse represented on the reverse describes a heroine whose beloved Krishna has departed. In her sorrow, she has discarded her lotus-petal garland, pearl necklace and girdle; even her armlet has slipped toward her wrist, suggesting that she has become physically weakened by longing.
The painting therefore combines an apparently quiet domestic scene with a strong emotional narrative. The heroine's elegant clothing and jewellery contrast with the emotional suffering expressed in the accompanying verse. The architecture and patterned terrace provide a carefully controlled stage for the figures, allowing the viewer to concentrate on the relationship between the heroine and her companion.
Golu belonged to an important hereditary family of Nurpur painters. The Metropolitan Museum of Art identifies Kripal, Devidasa and Golu as three generations of painters who produced illustrations of the Rasamanjari. Golu's series was created around 1715 and built upon compositions developed by his father Devidasa. His work is therefore significant for understanding the continuation and development of the Nurpur painting tradition in the early eighteenth century.
The Mature Heroine Whose Husband is Away, Folio from the "Rasamanjari" (Bouquet of Delights)
The Bouquet of Delights is a a 15th century Sanskrit poem on romantic love by Bhanudutta. It is a classification of different types of lovers according to their emotional states, and this painting represents a specific type: The Mature Heroine Whose Husband is Away.
We see two women in the painting. The woman on the right is the one whose beloved has left her, and she sits in sorrow, waiting for him. The second woman on the left is her companion, who shares her emotional state and keeps her company.
The beloved himself does not appear in the painting. Instead, the artist conveys his absence through its emotional effect on the woman he has left behind.
The painting is closely connected to the original text it illustrates, which describes how the woman’s beloved has departed and how, overcome by grief, she has abandoned all of her adornments. Even her armlet has become loose and slipped down toward her wrist, symbolizing how she has withered from sorrow as she waits for her beloved.
