_Radha's Longing_
Guler, Punjab Hills, c. 1810
Bharat Kala Bhawan, Banaras
In Indian painting and poetry, it was women driven to distraction by
unappeased longing rather than men hungry with desire who formed the chief
subject of romantic art. Pictures focussed on woman in all her varied
moods and flattered the male mind by portraying her wilting with sadness
when deprived of husband or lover.
The present picture shows Radha frenziedly contemplating her lonely state.
Ornaments grown too hot for wearing--from the passion burning in her
heart--are strewn about the bed, while hands tightly clasped suggest her
wild unhappy torment. The vast and barren hills, empty angular buildings,
tiny guttering candles and lonely flowering tree provide a sympathetic
setting.
With its sinuous line and innocent delight in feminine form, the picture
is typical of Guler painting at the start of the nineteenth century.
[Illustration]