Early organized movement of Europeans into
Indian shores occurred in the 17th century
itself, with Dutch, British and Portuguese
companies all attempting to gain maximum control
over trading privileges in India. What started
as an economic tussle between these European
companies gradually made way for the supremacy
of the British East India Company in the
mid-18th century. The Company, as it came to be
called, gradually along with the British Crown,
became the imperial overlords of India, assuming
economic, political and territorial control.
This led to an irreversible transformation of
the socio- political landscape of the country,
which was now transformed into a colony.
About 30 British portrait painters trained in
oil paintings and 28 miniaturists travelled to
India between 1770 and 1825 in search of
commissions. Amongst the earliest European
artists who visited India were John Zoffany,
William Hodges, Tilly Kettle, William and Thomas
Daniells, Emily Eden and others. From around
1760 till the mid 19th century, these itinerant
artist-travelers toured India working for local
patrons making paintings and prints of
monuments, landscapes as well as portraits. The
artists worked in oils on canvas utilizing the
western technique of academic realism with its
emphasis on linear perspective. These European
artists recorded the new colony in prints and
paintings that explored the vast landscapes, the
numerous historical edifices and monuments and
the many communities that inhabited the land.
Filtered through the ‘orientalist’ lens, these
works imaged India as an exotic and mysterious
land in paintings depicting the ghats of
Benaras, dancing girls in princely courts,
colourful caste costumes, portraits of local
rulers and their courtiers, different native
occupations and the local flora and fauna.
Daniell, Thomas
Sher Shah’s fort, Lithograph, 59.7 x 48.3 cm
Daniell, Thomas
Benares, Aurangzeb’s Mosque, Oil on canvas, 94 x 127 cm
Hodges, William
The Taj Malah, Oil on canvas, 149.5 x 89 cm
Kettle, Tilly
Dancers, Oil on canvas, 161.3 x 132 cm
Claxton
Marshall Calcutta, Oil on canvas, 180.3 x 90.2 cm
Eden, Emily
Ranjeet Singh, Lithograph, 25.5 x 33 cm
Daniell, Thomas
Southeast view of Trichinopoly, Lithograph, 58.5 x 40.5 cm
Daniell, Thomas
Hindu Math Chitpore Bazar, Lithograph, 71.6X144.2 cm
|
|