Moon Over Kathmandu
signed ‘Bangdel’ lower right
Details
- Title : Lain Singh Bangdel (Nepalese, 1919-2002)
- Year : 1919-2002
- Artist : LAIN SINGH BANGDEL
- Classification : Paintings
- Medium : oil on canvas, framed
- Dimension : 84.1 x 57cm (33 1/8 x 22 7/16in)
- Accession No : ITEM 13
- Country/ Geo-location : Nepal
- Collection : Bonhams
- Status : AUCTION at BONHAMS London, New Bond Street
- Auction Viewings (AS PER BONHAMS WEBSITE) 11/21/2023 : 11 November 2023, 11:00 - 15:00 GMT 12 November 2023, 11:00 - 15:00 GMT 13 November 2023, 09:00 - 16:30 GMT 14 November 2023, 09:00 - 16:30 GMT 15 November 2023, 09:00 - 16:30 GMT 16 November 2023, 09:00 - 16:30 GMT 17 November 2023, 09:00 - 16:30 GMT 20 November 2023, 09:00 - 16:30 GMT 21 November 2023, 09:00 - 16:30 GMT
- Provenance : Collection of Mervin Stevens, New Hampshire, USA.
- Footnotes : A copper colored moon, full and bright, watches over Kathmandu. White moonbeams cast shadows on the patchwork tapestry of blues, salmon, and yellow, suggesting the energetic buildings of Nepal's capital city, harmoniously nestled in the foothills of the Himalayas. Painted one year after Bangdel first stepped onto Nepali soil, Moon over Kathmandu synthesizes two of the artist's principle subjects: the urban landscape, a sign of the modern world's promises and failures, and the arresting beauty of mountain peaks. This nocturne depicts a bustling Kathmandu at rest, but brimming with the next day's potential energy. To the left, a faint scene within a scene: another moon, midnight blue, floats between twin peaks. These forms likely reference Nepal's double pennant flag, the only non-rectangular national flag, which also features the sun and the moon. An image of quiet patriotism, this painting embodies many of Bangdel's aspirations for Nepal: a country, recently emerged from a long period of self-imposed isolation, in harmony with the natural world, and itself.