New Delhi: National
Gallery of Modern Art in collaboration with the
Victoria and Albert Museum, London, presents Indian
Life and Landscape by Western Artists, an exhibition
of more than ninety paintings and drawings from the
V&A 1790 – 1927, at National Gallery of Modern Art, Jaipur House, New Delhi from October 27, 2009 to
December 6, 2009.
The exhibition is a collection from London’s
Victoria and Albert Museum which shows rare and
interesting watercolours, sketches, aquatints,
lithographs and engravings by European artists who
visited India between 18th to 20th century.
Says Prof Rajeev Lochan, Director, NGMA: “The first
visual representations of India by western artists
were of imaginary landscapes and settings. They were
based on the written accounts of travellers to India
from across Europe. It was only after professional
European artists began to travel to India that they
painted, for the first time, scenes based on direct
observation. Their passionate interest in this new
and exciting land led to the creation of a
comprehensive pictorial record of India, in a visual
style familiar to western audiences.”
India’s spectacular architecture, the immense
natural beauty of her landscapes, and the great
diversity of her people have inspired many artists
world over. The exhibition is divided into four
sections showcasing the works of various schools of
art. The exhibit begins with a ‘Picturesque’ tour of
India through dramatic pictures of splendid forts,
temples, and palaces. The second section showcases
works by amateur artists who were captivated by the
landscape and architecture of India. Many of these
amateurs were East India Company employees, who
transferred to canvas their personal experiences.
The third section is dedicated to the Romanticism of
Indian art that depicts striking, decorative
paintings entirely from the imagination. For
instance, on view is a panoramic view of the Taj
Mahal, paintings of busy street scenes, majestic
princes, and doe-eyed nautch girls. The fourth
section, based on realism, documents the social life
and people engaged in various professions during
that time.
Section I: A Picturesque tour
of India
From the mid-eighteenth century, professional
European artists began to turn to India for their
inspiration. They were attracted by the opportunity
to explore unfamiliar lands, to make their fortune,
and to further their reputation.
The beginning of The Picturesque, a major literary
and aesthetic movement in England led to a
revolution in western art and promoted a particular
way of observing and depicting landscapes. A typical
picturesque scene included elements of roughness and
irregularity, the inclusion of old ruined buildings
or impressive architectural structures added variety
and created an evocative atmosphere. India offered
an infinite range of subjects to depict in this
manner. The picturesque tradition of the 18th
century helped create the order, balance and
serenity of the magnificent aquatints of Indian
scenery and architecture created by artists such as
Thomas and William Daniell. The uncle-nephew duo
traveled widely in India, painting magnificent
buildings that have now crumbled to dust. Hence,
these paintings are a priceless record. Ruins of the
Palace at Madurai, Fortress of Gingee, in the
Carnatic and Hindu Temple at Agouree on the River
Soane are few examples of their noteworthy works.
Section
II: Amateur Artists
While professional western artists continued delving
deeper into their Indian subjects, amateur artists
as well tried their hand at drawing India. These
artists sketched and painted for their own private
pleasure, rather to earn a living through it. The
majority of amateurs were servants of the East India
Company or worked as civilians in the army, using
their leisure time for painting. They sometimes
formed social groups to share their knowledge. Many
worked outside the artistic conventions of the time
and had very different levels of skill. Their work
also forms an important part of the display, as a
record of personal experiences. The Taj Mahal by
Thomas Longcroft, A Natch party by Robert Smith and
Suspension Bridge at Alipore by Charles D'Oyly are
few examples of works by amateurs that were in no
way inferior to their professional counterparts.
Section III: Romanticism in
India
A different view of India was presented by those
influenced by the succeeding Romantic movement,
which emphasized the wildness and drama of the
natural world resulting in some of the most striking
and evocative paintings of India. The movement
encouraged artists to focus on their intuition and
imagination and create paintings that evoked strong
emotions. Elements of the picturesque remained
within the artist’s repertoire and at the same time,
they embraced another aesthetic theory of the
period, ‘the Sublime’. This favoured the depiction
of subjects in a way that intended to produce a
sense of great awe and wonder in the viewer. The
dramatic mountainous regions of India and the grand
architectural monuments lent themselves to Romantic
interpretation. People were often idealized and
portrayed in an enchanting manner. Artists used
their imagination to enhance their work, some, who
had never been to India, embellished the sketches of
others and created engaging and powerful images.
Perhaps the most striking of such paintings on
display are William Carpenter’s glowing rendition of
the marble interior of the Neminath Temple, titled
Interior of the Neminath Temple, Dilwara, Mount Abu.
Ancient Observatory by William Simpson, A Hindoo
Female of the Konkan by Robert Melville Grindlay and
A leopard attacking an antelope by Samuel Howitt are
other examples of the romantic school of practice.
Section IV: Realism and the
Indian student
From the 1860s, the arrival of photography and
increased access to western illustrations,
cultivated a taste in the Indian public for
real-life pictures. Indian artists began to use
western modes of representation which included
figure drawing. This trend was encouraged by the
schools of Art in Bombay, Madras, Lahore and
Calcutta which had come under the control of the
colonial government. Artist John Lockwood Kipling
(1837-1911), the father of Rudyard Kipling and John
Griffiths (1838-1918) were appointed as the dean of
the J.J School of Art in Mumbai, which produced many
top Indian artists, including M. F Husain and F.N
Souza. Kipling was commissioned by the government to
produce a series of studies of crafts people, some
of which are displayed in the exhibit. His
sepia-toned images conjure up an age gone by, with
sweetmeat sellers almost hidden behind mounds of
sweets, farmers harvesting cotton by hand, and
weavers creating fabric on the loom. One of John
Griffiths’ most memorable paintings titled A woman
holding a fish on her head, Bombay is his lifelike
sketch of a local fisherwoman balancing a massive
fish on her head, a classic Bombay scene that can
still be seen today.
The charm of the exhibition, thus, lies not just in
being able to travel back to a period in history
that will never come back, but also get an
invaluable sociological document from centuries ago.
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