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Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College
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Identification and Creation

Object Number
1971.133
Title
Lady Alone at Holi Festival
Classification
Albums
Work Type
album folio
Date
c. 1780
Places
Creation Place: South Asia, India, Himachal Pradesh, Kangra
Culture
Indian
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/215669

Location

Location
Level 2, Room 2590, South Asian Art, South Asia in the Medieval and Early Modern Eras
View this object's location on our interactive map

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Opaque watercolor and gold on paper; Pahari School, Kangra Style
Dimensions
19.21 x 12.7 cm (7 9/16 x 5 in.)

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of John Kenneth Galbraith
Accession Year
1971
Object Number
1971.133
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Descriptions

Description
Standing inside a section of a charbagh (four gardens), is a young female figure. She wears a long white dress that has a translucent top. She wears a white headscarf that reveals the top of her head and her black hair. Both the dress and headscarf are covered in splashes of orange, pink, and yellow dyes, indicative of Holi festival celebrations, when these dyes mixed with water are sprayed or thrown to mark the arrival of spring. She plays a stringed musical instrument. She wears bracelets, earrings, and necklaces, including one with a large pendant. Behind her is a small pool of water and farther behind is a small gazebo-like structure. Figures can be seen in the distance participating in the festivities. A long white fabric fence gently billows on the right. There is a glimpse of another female figure, covered in colorful dye, walking behind the white fabric fence. In the background, a male figure accompanied by female courtiers, sprays orange dye at a female courtier. Pahari School, Kangra Style.

Publication History

  • Stuart Cary Welch and Milo Cleveland Beach, Gods, Thrones, and Peacocks Northern Indian Painting from Two Traditions, exh. cat., Harry N. Abrams, Inc. (New York, NY, 1965), page 90/figure 50

Exhibition History

  • Ambassador's Choice: The Galbraith Collection of Indian Painting, Harvard University Art Museums, Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 02/15/1986 - 04/06/1986
  • Gods, Thrones, and Peacocks - Revisited: Northern Indian Miniatures from two Traditions, Fifteenth to Nineteenth Centuries, Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, 03/31/1990 - 06/10/1990
  • Hot as Curry - Subtle as Moonlight: Masterpieces of Rajput Painting, Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, 11/02/1991 - 12/20/1991
  • From India's Hills and Plains: Rajput Painting from the Punjab and Rajasthan, 17th through 19th Centuries, Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, 09/04/1993 - 10/31/1993
  • Rasika, the Discerning Connoisseur: Indian Paintings from the John Kenneth Galbraith Collection, Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, 01/31/1998 - 04/05/1998
  • 32Q: 2590 South and Southeast Asia, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 10/28/2024 - 04/28/2025

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art at am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu