San Diego Museum of Art - Lovers by a Tree

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Lovers by a Tree

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Lovers by a Tree

Mir Kalan Khan, Indian, b. 18th century

Creation date: ca. 1725

Creation place: India

Other Information

Type: Watercolor Painting

Medium and Support: Opaque watercolor and gold on paper

Credit Line: Edwin Binney 3rd Collection

Accession Number: 1990.382

State/Province: Delhi

Dimensions: 11 9/16 in. x 6 25/32 in. (29.4 cm x 17.2 cm)

Provenance

Lucy Strickland, London, England ( - December 13, 1965)

Sotheby's, London, England (December 13, 1965 - December 13, 1965)

Walters, London, England (December 13, 1965 - December 13, 1965)

Edwin Binney 3rd, San Diego, California (December 13, 1965 - August 27, 1990)

San Diego Museum of Art, San Diego, California (August 27, 1990 - )

Label Copy

Power & Desire, 04/00
An aristocratic couple stands beneath a flowering tree. She fills his cup, and he offers her wine. Their robes overlap, their arms are entwined. They are a picture-perfect image of two who have become one. The single tree magically has two kinds of flowers.
The extremes of this nearby artifice are contrasted in the far distance, with another extreme in matters of the flesh. A hermitage of ash-smeared ascetics is rendered in fine detail. Some of the ascetics are fanning a smoky fire under a
cauldron. Others sit with their arms raised to the sky. They are performing penance, and may have vowed to keep this posture for weeks or even months. The ascetics mortify their flesh while the lovers are absorbed in its pleasures.

October 2005
Domains of Wonder
A revitalization of imperial Mughal painting took place under the tenth emperor, Muhammad Shah. Nostalgic for glories of the past, the later Mughal painters revel in a romanticism that also conveys a sense of optimism after decades of near persecution under emperor Aurangzeb.
A young couple, sumptuously dressed in courtly finery, has ventured out of the city to share a drink under a flowering tree. In the distance an ashram is visible beyond the outskirts of a palace city.
Last Updated: 9/5/2017

Exhibition

This object was included in the following exhibitions:

A Flower from Every Meadow: Indian Paintings from American Collections Asia Society Galleries , 3/21/1973 - 11/11/1973

The Mughal and Deccani Schools: Indian Miniature Painting from the Collection of Edwin Binney, 3rd The Portland Art Association , 12/2/1973 - 3/7/1976

Life at Court: Art for India's Rulers, 16th-19th Centuries Museum of Fine Arts, Boston , 11/20/1985 - 5/11/1986

Indian Court Painting: 16th–19th century The Metropolitan Museum of Art , 3/25/1997 - 7/6/1997

Power & Desire: South Asian Paintings from the San Diego Museum of Art, San Diego Museum of Art , 4/29/2000 - 10/5/2003

Domains of Wonder: Selected Masterworks of Indian Painting San Diego Museum of Art , 10/22/2005 - 1/27/2008

Visible Vaults The San Diego Museum of Art , 11/12/2016 - 00/00/00

Bibliography

This object has the following bibliographic references:

Dr. Edwin Binney, 3rd. The Mughal and Deccani Schools Portland Art Museum. Portland, Oregon, 1973
Page Number: 97, 103, Figure Number: 78

Dr. Edwin Binney, 3rd. The Mughal and Deccani Schools Portland Art Museum. Portland, Oregon, 1973
Page Number: 116, Figure Number: 78

Mr. Stuart Cary Welch. A Flower from Every Meadow: Asia House Gallery. New York, New York, 1973
Page Number: 13

Mr. Stuart Cary Welch and Mark Zebrowski. A Flower from Every Meadow: Asia House Gallery. New York, New York, 1973
Page Number: 113, Figure Number: 67

Vishakha N. Desai. Life at Court: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Boston, Massachusetts, 1986
Page Number: xvii

Vishakha N. Desai. Life at Court: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Boston, Massachusetts, 1986
Page Number: 90, Figure Number: 72

Roy C. Craven, Jr.. A Concise History of Indian Art Thames and Hudson. London, England, 1976
Page Number: 213, Figure Number: 173

Mr. Robert L. Pincus. Night & Day The Union-Tribune. San Diego, California, May 11, 2000
Page Number: 48-49

Dr. Caron Smith. Arts of Asia Arts of Asia Publications Ltd. Hong Kong, September 2000-October 2000
Page Number: 93, 94, Figure Number: 14

Power and Desire: Hong Kong Museum of Art. 2001
Page Number: cat. no. 25, Figure Number: 25

Catalogue of Western and Oriental Manuscripts and Miniatures, Sotheby & Co.. London, England, December 13, 1965
Page Number: 4, Lot no. 3

Amina Okada. Pouvoir et Désir: Miniatures Indiennes, Collection Edwin Binney 3rd du San Diego Museum of Art Paris musées/Éditions Findakly. Paris/Suilly-la-Tour, France, 2002
Page Number: 78, 79, Figure Number: 24

Steven Kossak. Indian Court Painting: The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, New York, 1997
Page Number: 20, 22

Steven Kossak. Indian Court Painting: The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, New York, 1997
Page Number: 92, Figure Number: 53

Dr. Sonya Quintanilla. Veranda Veranda Publications Inc.. Atlanta, Georgia, September 2005-October 2005
Page Number: 104, Figure Number: 104

Brijinder Nath Goswamy and Dr. Caron Smith. Domains of Wonder: San Diego Museum of Art. San Diego, California, 2005
Page Number: 152, 153, Figure Number: 60

Dr. Edwin Binney, 3rd. Aspects of Indian Art E. J. Brill. Leiden, The Netherlands, 1972
Page Number: 121, Figure Number: 66a

Marks

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