Christie’s Presents Arts of India, Including Vishvarupa Pichvai and 18th-Century Illustrations

During this fall’s Asia Week New York, Christie’s will present its Arts of India sale. The curated event features paintings and sculpture from the Indian subcontinent. Among the auction’s top lots is a major 18th or 19th-century pichvai, or wall hanging, depicting Krishna in the cosmic form of Vishvarupa. This sequence—of Krishna revealing his true form to Arjuna during their extended dialogue—is notably described in the Bhagavad Gita. The available pichvai attempts to capture the infinite, powerful version of Krishna described in the text. He is depicted as a man with blue skin, seven heads, and ten arms covered in eyes. Vishvarupa stands on Vishnu’s divine serpent, Shesha, and both oceans and a mountain encircle his torso. Christie’s notes that other versions of Vishvarupa appear in the history of Indian art, though few examples are as large or impressive as the present lot. 

Another notable work of fine art in the catalog is an illustration from a dispersed series on the Ramayana. Painted in the Pahari style between 1775 and 1780, this illustration depicts a group of monkeys encountering a demon, who tumbles out of a cave. It belongs to the “Bharany” section of the series, so named because it was originally owned by prolific Indian art dealer C. L. Bharany. A variety of other illustrations are available, including several lots from dispersed Bhagavata Purana folios. Bidders can consider a gray schist figure of a bodhisattva from the third or fourth century CE, as well as a monumental painted wood figure of the bull Nandi from the Tamil Nadu state. Visit Christie’s website to view the complete Arts of India catalog and register to bid.