Untitled

Young love—the subject of so much poetry, literature, cinema—and art... Ramgopal Vijaivargiya’s distinguishing characteristic was to use the romantic wash style of the Bengal School, in which he had formally trained, to paint subjects of ethereal beauty. Often based on the epics, he also frequently painted youthful lovers. The miniature tradition first evolved the nayika as a subject of romantic longing. In Vijaivargiya’s painting, we are unsure whether the man has been delayed while the woman sleeps, or whether he is stealing away from her after a night of passion. Either way, the painting warms the cockles of viewers’ hearts.