Durga and Ganesha
1890
paint
From the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum
1890
paint
From the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum
Durga and Ganesha is a 1890 paint by Unknown, a Impressionism work, depicting Kalighat, held at Victoria and Albert Museum.
This painting shows a woman with four arms sitting on a throne-like shape. Her face is calm, and she wears a green dress with a red sash. Two of her hands hold a small figure—Ganesha, the elephant-headed god—while the others gesture outward. Bright yellow hands and feet frame her, and a crown sits on her head. The colors are bold and flat, with no deep shadows. This style comes from the *kalighat* tradition, a type of Indian folk art. Next, check out the Victoria and Albert Museum to see more works like this.
This watercolour and tin alloy painting on paper depicts the goddess Durga with the infant Ganesha, executed in the Kalighat style. The work was donated by M N Varvill in 1955. Kalighat paintings from 19th-century Calcutta often portrayed local mythology and societal themes using vivid colours, simplified forms, and rapid brushwork. The piece reflects the cultural and artistic shifts of a colonised Bengal during that period.
Read the full account in the museum source.
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