The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 20, 2025

Krishna celebrates Holi

c. 1770

Northern India, Pahari kingdoms

gum tempera, gold, and silver on paper
Page: 21 x 29.4 cm (8 1/4 x 11 9/16 in.); Image: 15.5 x 23.8 cm (6 1/8 x 9 3/8 in.)
Purchase and partial gift from the Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection; Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund 2018.104
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

The painter has sprinkled color on the background to suggest colors thrown in the air.

Description

During the festival of Holi, Hindus celebrate the coming of spring by playfully throwing and shooting colored water and powders at one another. Among all the cowherd boys with whom he grew up, Krishna, a Hindu god incarnated on earth, is the only one able to reach the heart of a gopi, or milkmaid, with a well-aimed plunger full of colors. Raucous with sound as well as color, some of the boys play the drum, flute, and horns; girls strum a vina (stringed instrument), play a flute, and blow a whistle.
  • ?–2018
    Catherine Glynn Benkaim and Barbara Timmer, Beverly Hills, CA, partial sale and gift to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    2018–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Indian Gallery 242 Rotation. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (September 10, 2018-April 7, 2019).
  • {{cite web|title=Krishna celebrates Holi|url=false|author=|year=c. 1770|access-date=20 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2018.104