“Krishna addressing Arjuna” is an original painting, intended to be reproduced for calendars sold in bazaars in India, at the beginning of the 20th century. Calendar art developed in India with the expansion of printers, who asked painters for vibrant, colorful originals to illustrate calendars. The images produced could depict Hindu deities, religious figures, places of pilgrimage, historical figures... and later advertisements for a wide variety of products. The visual imagery of Calendar Art is still present in Indian pop culture and continues to influence advertising, film production and contemporary artists, such is the ability of this style to capture the spirit and identity of the people.

Most of the 50 originals presented by Retour De Voyage are signed by the artist and noted by the printer on the back. This one is a polychrome gouache, on cardboard with white edges. A beautifully rendered composition, in an “antique” style, of a famous scene from the Mahabharata.

Krisha is shown standing over a kneeling Arjuna, his hands in the Anjali Mudra of prayer. A bow and quiver with arrows and a shield are scattered around their feet. Krishna performs a mudra with his left hand and points to Arjuna, whose golden chariot with four white horses is shown in the background, alongside an army of armored elephants, in a valley with a beautiful landscape.