Krishna with Gopis, Oleograph

Chromolithographic oleograph depicting Krishna surrounded by gopis in a musical riverside setting, emblematic of popular ras lila imagery circulated through calendar and devotional prints in early 20th-century India. Krishna appears with a halo and flute, while attendants engage in music and dance, evoking joy, devotion, and abundance rather than a specific narrative episode.
The composition reflects the Ravi Varma–influenced visual idiom that shaped Indian popular print culture, combining idealised figuration with saturated colour and theatrical staging. Pastoral elements—lotus-filled waters, swans, flowering banks, and distant pavilions—reinforce the scene’s lyrical and devotional tone. The lower margin and image field bear markings identifying the work as published by Anant Shivam Desai, Bombay, with copyright and manufacturing associated with the Calendar Manufacturing Company, a major producer of devotional and calendar imagery during this period. The print is presented in a period wooden frame, included with the piece