[SARASWATHI & LAKSHMI]

28-7/8 x 23-3/4” in [73.2 x 60.3 cm]

India, signed ‘Ma.Baskar’, date unknown, polychrome gouache on board

verso: (translation pending…)

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Profusely decorated, full-body representation of the goddesses Saraswati and Lakshmi. Both of them considered goddesses of good luck and benefits, Saraswati sits in a white lotus, indicating her affiliation with spiritual gains, while Lakshmi stands on a pink lotus that indicates her dominion over material gains. Moreover, each goddess holds attributes that reinforce their distinction and complementarity: Saraswati holds a rosary, a book and the homonymous Saraswati veena, a string musical instrument that she is often represented with as goddess of music and all the arts, while Lakshmi holds the lotuses of dharma and kama (righteousness and pleasure) and showers on the viewer gold and pearls from his two remaining hands. At the feet of Saraswati, incense burns next to an open book and an ink and quill. In the book, the words ‘OM’ (of deep spiritual meanings, to the left) and ‘SRI’ (denoting prosperity and wealth, to the right) are inscribed. At the feet of Lakshmi, in turn, recipients filled with gold and packs of rupees are deposited, next to burning lamps that light the scene for the two goddesses. Behind them, the words ‘Subh’ (auspiciousness, to the right) and ‘Labh’ (benefit, to the left) inscribed in the wall, as well as the rich ornamentation of the background architecture itself, reinforce the image of opulence and prosperity associated with both deities. Signed by the artist in the image.

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‘Calendar Art’ Paintings of India are the original artworks from which commercial printers created mass-produced popular images. The artworks can be grouped into major themes; religion, alluring women, patriotic national heroes and political leaders, movie stars, divine cherubic babies.

Functioning as pin-ups, calendar illustrations, and altar gods, the printed images can be found throughout 19th, 20th and 21st century India homes, schools, shrines, public halls and workplaces. Displayed within a wide range of contexts this art knows no class boundaries: in living rooms of the prosperous, on urban slum lean-to’s, in village thatched dwellings, framed in middle class kitchens.

The prints of specifically religious nature depict gods, goddesses, epic scenes, saints and sacred sites. Displayed in every kind of shop imaginable (tailor shops, tea stalls, grocery stores), transport (car and taxi dashboards, train conductors perch), upon persons (shirt pockets, wallets, purse), these iconic images are believed to act as talismans offering a means to worship, and, potentially access the divine.

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similar calendar art paintings and/or prints have been exhibited and/or archived at the following venues:

=> Gods in the Bazaar

=> Museum of Anthropology, University of British Columbia (Vancouver)

=> The British Museum