Sugriva, King of the Monkeys, Leads Rama and Lakshmana through the Forest; Illustrated folio from the dispersed Shangri Ramayana series (Style III)

This illustrated folio from the “Shangri Ramayana” Series is painted in W.G. Archer’s
Style III, a style of “lush exuberance” (see also cat. nos. 47 and 49), blending Styles I (cat. no.
45) and IV (cat. no. 50), though “in somewhat coarsened form.” (1) Notable are the “rioting
abandon” with which the trees are depicted, the brilliant colors, and the dense yet summary
forms, all of which derive from the First Bahu Master’s Style I illustrations. According to Archer,
these Style III illustrations are chiefly concerned with monkey scenes and with the “bold gusto”
of the jungle environment. (2)
The illustrated folios painted in Style III (cat. nos. 47­49), like the present work, are
perhaps the most narratively effective in the entire Series. Background accoutrements are
reduced to a bare minimum; the figures are lithe and fast moving; and the narrative action is
always clear. These Style III illustrations pack quite a punch.
(1) W.G. Archer 1973, Vol. I, pg. 328
(2) W.G. Archer 1973, Vol. I, pg. 326

Swiss Collection

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Divine Pleasures: Painting from India's Rajput Courts—The Kronos Collections," June 13–September 11, 2016.

New York,. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Sita and Rama: The Ramayana in Indian Painting," August 3, 2019–March 7, 2021.