Krishna and Bakasura
1885
paint
From the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum
1885
paint
From the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum
Krishna and Bakasura is a 1885 paint by Unknown, a Impressionism work, depicting Kalighat, held at Victoria and Albert Museum.
This painting shows a dark-skinned figure with a blue-black body, sitting cross-legged and playing a flute. The person wears a yellow skirt, black boots, and a beaded necklace. Behind them, a long-necked bird-like creature reaches up, almost touching their hand. The bright colors—yellow, red, and black—stand out against the light background. The artist used bold outlines and flat colors, with no deep shadows. Look up kalighat to see more paintings like this.
The painting depicts Krishna killing Bakasura and was created in 1885 using opaque watercolour on paper. It was later acquired by the museum from Miss M. Steele in 1950, having been part of a collection inherited from her mother, a Sanskrit scholar at Cambridge. The collection may have been originally gathered by Steele’s grandmother, who had lived in India.
Read the full account in the museum source.
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