George Keyt
The Repentant Gopi
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Victoria and Albert Museum
London, United Kingdom
It belongs to the collection, but is not on display at present.
- Checked
- In this state since
- Source
- The museum
About the work
In this drawing we observe the seated sheperd looking pensive while his wife kneels before him. In the background we observe two stylised bulls. The artist has used no perspective, setting all the figures against a flat background. The sky and the ground are represented by several childish lines, these are curvilinear above and straight below.
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George Keyt (1901–1993) was born in Sri Lanka (Ceylon) and educated at Trinity College (Kandy), an elite colonial school in the British public school tradition. From a very early stage, the ancient hill capital and its Buddhist temples came to exercise a powerful and lasting influence on him, providing an artistic stimulus to his work. This interest spurred the young painter to reject the Western cultural values he had been brought up with and to explore Hindu mythology. This drawing, which depicts the mythical scene of 'The Repentant Gopi', reflects such fascination. The myth recounts how the young Krishna, by playing his flute in the forest, calls all the cowgirls (gopis), who all slip away from their husbands. After six months of erotic adventures, the disillusioned cowgirls return home and repent before their husbands.
Victoria and Albert Museum
Particulars
- Accession number
- IS.551-1952
What it shows
In the catalog
Sources
- Victoria and Albert Museum
- Image: Victoria and Albert Museum — © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
