A PAINTING OF A GODDESS FROM A TANTRIC MANUSCRIPT, NORTHWESTERN INDIA, 18TH CENTURY

A PAINTING OF A GODDESS FROM A TANTRIC MANUSCRIPT, NORTHWESTERN INDIA, 18TH CENTURY Ink and watercolors on paper, laid down on fabric. Depicting a female deity in the nude standing with her arms spread and feet apart, the palm of the feet and hands decorated with aalta, her body adorned with jewelry, the serene face with wide kohl-lined eyes and small lips under arched brows, the forehead marked with tilak, the hair elegantly falling down the shoulder. The verso with text in devanagari. Provenance: Galerie Suzanne Bollag, Zurich, Switzerland. Swiss private collection, acquired from the above. Galerie Jan Krugier, Geneva, Switzerland. A private collection in Geneva, acquired from the above. The reverse with two old labels from Galerie Suzanne Bollag and Galerie Jan Krugier, each titling the painting ‘Devi’ and confirming the dating above, and inscribed ‘J.K. 248’, ‘Devi’, and ‘18th century. Gujarat. 8’. Suzanne Bollag (1917-1995) was a Swiss art dealer who has published the great names of classical modernism, including Max Ernst, Pablo Picasso, Yves Tanguy, and Joan Mir. She took part in Art Basel with her gallery for many years. Jan Krugier (1928-2008) was a Polish born Swiss dealer and a survivor of the Holocaust. Trained as an artist, he worked in the trade from 1953 and from 1962 with his own gallery in Geneva. In 1967 he opened a space in New York in collaboration with Albert Loeb. From the 1970s onwards he took over the representation of Marina Picasso's collection and built up his own art collection. Condition: Good condition with minor wear. Soiling, foxing, stains, and losses. Dimensions: Image size 18.5 x 9 cm, Size incl. frame 25.5 x 15.5 cm Literature comparison: Compare a related painting of a tantric goddess from a rare Kannada manuscript, in the collection of the Kannada department, University of Bangalore, photographed on 27 April 1987, under Chindananda Murthy. Compare a related painting of Purusha, with figures similar to the present lot, dated c. 1700, Rajasthan, illustrated by Ajit Mookerjee, Kundalini. The Arousal of the Inner Energy, p. 55.