Painting from the 'Bharany'?Ramayana Rama, Sita & Lakshmana at Panchvati 1775 Christies , New York

The John C. and Susan L. Huntington Collection?achieved a total of $1,830,780?with 110% hammer above low estimate.This painting of the Ramayana from Kangra First generation after Nainsukh and Manaku 1775 sold for $350,000 from an estimate of $100,000.Interest in Indian miniatures have always been an important part of Christie's Sales.

Ramayana of Valmiki

This evocative?painting is from a dispersed?series of the?Ramayana?of Valmiki, painted in Kangra circa 1775-1780, by a master of the first generation after Nainsukh and Manaku. The series originally belonged to the dealer C.L. Bharany from which it takes its name, although it is also at times referred to as the Second Guler Ramayana series. The series exemplifies the Pahari style at its best, presenting a world of refinement and delicacy .

Raja’s wedding gift?

The artists of this series produced among the most well-known and well-celebrated series in Indian painting, including the present series, the ‘Tehri Garhwal’?Gita Govinda?and the ‘Modi’?Bhagavata Purana. The three works are all closely related stylistically and iconographically and, according to W.G. Archer, these series were all commissioned by the mother of Raja Sansar Chand of Kangra (r. 1775-1823) for his wedding in 1781. These series together rank among of finest achievements in Indian painting, becoming some of the most coveted illustrations among collectors.

As a whole, the delicately detailed?Ramayana?series carries all of the trademark characteristics of this generation of artist: a restrained color palette, lyrical drawing, poetic suggestions and an intimate reflection on nature. The individual paintings are particularly inventive and varied, although many follow a similar composition along a diagonal, with a succession of plans and perspectives. It is possible that various hands participated in this series although the artist responsible for this painting, likely painted all of the cityscapes in the?series. Interestingly , the figures in the?Ramayana?are painted in a smaller scale, often as if seen from a distance.

Historian Archer?

The present painting depicts a scene from the?14 years vanvaas in the forest.It belongs to a famous set called Shangri.?

The famous set of paintings known as the ‘Shangri’ Ramayana series was thought by historian W.G. Archer to have been executed at Shangri in the eastern Punjab Hills state of Kulu, where it was found (Archer 1973, vol. 1, pp. 317–30). Archer discerned four major painting styles in the manuscript which he dated 1690– 1710. The artists of styles I and II both have a wild sense of spatial organisation in their compositions, sometimes creating believable settings for their characters and sometimes not bothering, and often showing both traits on the same page.?

As per the artists talent, the figure’s emotions are all wonderfully exemplified with expressions of pride and assurance of the two brothers and Sita. In the scenic setting of hills and trees and the flowing river , the artist offers a glimpse of the?hillside with a multitude of figures so delicately drawn they are scarcely discernible. In the foreground, the artists pay homage to the lush nature of the Pahari region using the scenery surrounding the Beas River to inspire their interpretations of the Sarayu and Ganga.

Although the series is unnumbered, and not previously known to the public until its dispersal in the 1970s, it is estimated that about 100 pages of the ‘ Bharany '?Ramayana?subsist in private and public collections. These include works from the first three chapters of the Ramayana. The final two books were completed by the same generation in a slightly later continuation series, variously attributed to between 1780 and 1800.