Untitled

Sunayani Devi, arguably India’s first woman artist who signed her name to her works, maintained that her paintings were the expression of a dream world. ‘Most of my paintings I have seen in dreams—after seeing them I have then put them down…’ she said. Here, she depicts a jewellery-adorned Krishna devotee, indicated by the flute in the hands of the figure. The simple painting is without guile, an expression of the artist’s intent that translates beautifully into an image of a devotee with a serene countenance, signifying the achievement of oneness with the god that she worships.