A lady on a terrace with hookah and falcon

Object Details

• Artist

  Attributed to a follower of Har Jaimal (active late 18th century)

• School/Tradition

  Nurpur school

• Label

  This painting represents a traditional subject: a beautiful woman standing by a tree. Dressed in lavender and with a blandly generic face, she holds a white falcon and a hookah mouthpiece. The flowery tree to her left and the distant landscape are cursorily rendered. The painting is by a follower of Har Jaimal, an artist identified by his landscapes of rolling hills dotted with tiny trees represented by a series of tiny horizontal brush strokes and dotted patches. This work's high-key pastel palette, particularly its atypical teal, suggests that this folio is a 20th-century work based on Har Jaimal's style.

• Provenance

  To 1969

  Kasmin Gallery, London, England. [1]

  From 1969 to 2001

  Ralph Benkaim (1914-2001), Beverly Hills, California, purchased from Kasmin Gallery, London, England. In April 1969. [2]

  From 2001 to 2018

  Catherine Glynn Benkaim, Beverly Hills, California, by inheritance from Ralph Benkaim in 2001. [3]

  From 2018

  Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, partial gift and purchase from Catherine Glynn Benkaim. [4]

  Notes:

  [1] Ralph Benkaim purchased the painting in 1969 from Kasmin Gallery in London, several years before Indian paintings were classified as antiquities by the Indian government, according to his personal records via Catherine Glynn Benkaim.

  [2] See note 1.

  [3] See note 1.

  [4] See Acquisition Consideration Form, object file, Collections Management Office.

• Collection

  National Museum of Asian Art Collection

• Previous custodian or owner

  Kasmin Gallery (English, 1963-1972)

  Ralph and Catherine Benkaim

  Catherine Glynn Benkaim

• Origin

  India

• Credit Line

  Purchase and partial gift from the Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection — funds provided by the Friends of the National Museum of Asian Art

• Type

  Painting

• Restrictions and Rights

  CC0 - Creative Commons (CC0 1.0)

  This image is in the public domain (free of copyright restrictions). You can copy, modify, and distribute this work without contacting the Smithsonian. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page.

  The information presented on this website may be revised and updated at any time as ongoing research progresses or as otherwise warranted. Pending any such revisions and updates, information on this site may be incomplete or inaccurate or may contain typographical errors. Neither the Smithsonian nor its regents, officers, employees, or agents make any representations about the accuracy, reliability, completeness, or timeliness of the information on the site. Use this site and the information provided on it subject to your own judgment. The National Museum of Asian Art welcomes information that would augment or clarify the ownership history of objects in their collections.

Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  2000s, 1900s

• Name

  Benkaim, Ralph and Catherine, Benkaim, Catherine Glynn, Kasmin Gallery

• Place

  India

• Topic

  South Asian and Himalayan Art, Art, Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection, Hookah, Woman, Falcon

• Culture

  Himalayan peoples, South Asians

• Object Type

  Paintings