Forlorn woman on a terrace

Much of India's poetry and painting concerns the yearning and pining for an absent lover. Here a woman sits in a striking pose, with her head thrown back and elbows arched. The diaphanous fabric that covers her billows out, adding a sense of agitation. An array of objects—a hookah, cups of wine, and so on—surround her, but she is interested not in the pleasures of life but only in her deep distress. This work's artist was inspired by the important and idiosyncratic artist Chokha, who worked in the kingdom of Mewar—at the capital, Udaipur, and in one of the smaller principalities, Devgarh.