Jodhpur Trio - Crossing; rev 3

Jodhpur Trio - Crossing (rev 3); R Williamson, acrylic and plaster on canvas; 14” wide x 20” tall; 9/3/23

This painting from last week is based closely on one piece of a small triptych from my show from a year ago. All were square and small in size (12”). A recent inquiry into several of the remaining pieces from that period included that original ‘Jodhpur Trio - Crossing’, one that had sold this past spring. I liked the light hearted, almost storybook composition enough to do another few versions to offer. And welcomed the chance to do it somewhat larger and with a vertical form factor.

The title draws very loosely from some work I saw more than 10 years ago. The central monkey is taken in large part from one of the little monkeys from Hanumans army as portrayed in a miniature from the Royal Court of Marwar in the Jodhpur area of NW India. A show of 18th century paintings from that period, ‘Garden & Cosmos’, was on display in Seattles Asian Art Museum back in 2009 and was something that I revisited multiple times, astounded by the imagery and occasionally electric colorations. And all the swimming monkeys ...

A detail from a Moghul miniature, ‘Rama’s Army Crosses the Ocean to Lanka’, from approx 1775