Search results for: 'Paintings of British India'

With ‘Indian Portraits: The Face of a People’, DAG uncovers the layers that have gone into the practice of portraiture in the country—a survey exhibition spanning two centuries of the genre in India. From British and Indian royalty to streetside portraiture, this is a quick overview of an India past and present. Learn More

Colonization is perhaps best understood as a process that unfolded over time than as a single historical event. In India and South Asia it began with the East India Company acquiring rights over land in different parts of the country, with the occasional political victories won on the battlefields. Since the Battle of Plassey (1757), their power over legislative and judicial matters grew steadily, backed by a strong military presence. Following the First War of Independence in 1857, the British Crown brought most parts of the Indian subcontinent under its direct rule, continuing to hold power until 1947.

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The showstoppers at the entrance of the DAG booth at the India Art Fair 2020 included a poignant painting of Draupadi’s saree being unfurled in the Kaurava court painted by M. V. Dhurandhar, alongside a work by an unknown artist in the style of the Early Bengal School—the oldest work on display. Together, they were a pointer to the masterpieces on display at the DAG booth, covering over roughly a century of art practice in India. DAG’s representation included some fine artworks such as a huge canvas by K. H. Ara, a ceramic sculpture by Mrinalini Mukherjee, a stunning canvas by Sohan Qadri, colourful abstract paintings by J. Swaminathan, Shanti Dave and G. R. Santosh, a masterful work by S. H. Raza, a lovely Jamini Roy, and paintings by M. F. Husain, Krishen Khanna, Paritosh Sen, J. Sultan Ali, Madhvi Parekh and others—each of unparalleled quality. J. SULTAN ALI BIKASH BHATTACHARJEE G. R. SANTOSH PARITOSH SEN EARLY BENGAL OIL K. C. S. PANIKER MADHVI PAREKH S. H. RAZA KRISHEN KHANNA SHANTI DAVE K. H. ARA PRABHAKAR BARWE M. V. DHURANDHAR M. F. HUSAIN HEMEN MAZUMDAR KSHITINDRANATH MAJUMDAR MRINALINI MUKHERJEE SOHAN QADRI JAMINI ROY J. SWAMINATHAN

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The art of the twentieth century may be too recent for us to judge it from the viewpoint of longevity, but if the past is any criterion, art is set to outlive us by far—a reason why its documentation is one of the more important tasks before us. This is where the Manifestations series is so important. It encourages discussion and debates around the selection of unique works by seventy-five acknowledged artists spanning a century (or more) of Indian modernism across a range of variously permutable combinations: periods, movements, mediums, materials, regions.  Raiba Ambadas Arpana Caur Arun Bose Asit Kumar Haldar Avinash Chandra Bal Chhabda Bikash Bhattacharjee Bimal Dasgupta Biren De Bireswar Sen C. Douglas Chittaprosad Devayani Krishna Dhanraj Bhagat Dharamnarayan Dasgupta Early Bengal (Anonymous) F. N. Souza G. R. Santosh Ganesh Pyne Gogi Saroj Pal Himmat Shah Indra Dugar J. C. Seal J. Sultan Ali J. Swaminathan Gaganendranath Tagore Raja Ravi Varma Jamini Roy Jeram Patel Jyoti Bhatt K. Adimoolam K. C. S. Paniker K. G. Subramanyan K. H. Ara K. K. Hebbar K. Laxma Goud K. S. Radhakrishnan Kalighat Pat (Anonymous) Khagen Roy Krishen Khanna L. Munuswamy Laxman Pai Laxman Shrestha M. F. Husain M. Senathipathi M. V. Dhurandhar N. S. Bendre Nandalal Bose Navjot Nemai Ghosh Nikhil Biswas P. Khemraj P. T. Reddy Paritosh Sen Partha Pratim Deb Prokash Karmakar Prosanto Roy Rabin Mondal Rabindranath Tagore Radha Charan Bagchi Ram Kumar Ranbir S. Kaleka Robert Ker Porter S. H. Raza Sakti Burman Satish Gujral Shanti Dave Shyamal Dutta Ray Gopal Ghose Sohan Qadri Sunil Das Sunil Madhav Sen Thota Vaikuntam Ved Nayar

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The nude. Just the term sends a frisson of excitement down the spine in most people. For the few of us who are part of the art fraternity, however, more than just the anticipation of being able to view the human body as an artistic work in its many forms and avatars, its beauty and its degradation both, is the true mark of an artist’s genius. And yet, the history of the nude in Indian art has remained curiously unmapped. A. A. Almelkar A. A. Raiba A. P. Bagchi A. Ramachandran Abalall Rahiman Akbar Padamsee Anita Roychowdhury Anupam Sud Avinash Chandra B. Prabha B.Vithal Bengal School (Anonymous) Bikash Bhattacharjee Chintamoni Kar Chittaprosad F. N. Souza G. R. Santosh George Keyt Gogi Saroj Pal Gopal Ghose Hemendranath Majumdar J. Sultan Ali Jamini Roy Jaya Ganguly Jehangir Sabavala Jeram Patel Jogen Chowdhury Jyoti Bhatt K. H. Ara K. K. Hebbar K. Laxma Goud K. S. Kulkarni L. Munuswamy Laxman Pai M. F. Husain M. R. Acharaker Madhav Bhattacharjee Maniklal Banerjee Nalini Malani Navjot Nikhil Biswas P. Khemraj P. T. Reddy Prodosh Das Gupta Prokash Karmakar R.Vijaivargiya Rabin Mondal Radha Charan Bagchi Rameshwar Broota Ramkinkar Baij Ranbir Kaleka Ravi Varma Press Rekha Rodwittiya S. Dhanapal Sakti Burman Satish Sinha Sudhir Khastgir Suhas Roy Sunil Das Sunil Madhav Sen Surendran Nair V. Nageshkar Ved Nayar

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One of the most distinguished families in Bengal, the Tagores exercised unparalleled influence over the cultural landscape of the region. The Nobel Laureate, Rabindranath Tagore (1861 - 1941), and two of his nephews, Gaganendranath Tagore (1867-1938) and Abanindranath Tagore (1871 - 1951) were recognised as India’s National Art Treasure artists. Sunayani Devi (1875 -1962), their sister, is regarded as one of modern India’s first women painters known by name. Her lyrical paintings and embroideries often looked inward to an imagined world of fables and myths. At the turn of the twentieth century, we see Abanindranath emerging as the founder of the Bengal School as he envisioned a new Indian art that was free of colonial influence, rooted in pan-Asianism. Gaganendranath, on the other hand, was a prolific satirist and cartoonist, who imagined new forms and perspectives inspired by Cubism. Together they formed the influential Indian Society of Oriental Art in 1907, while Rabindranath’s school and university at Santiniketan would continue to shape modern art in Bengal for generations to come.

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DAG’s emphasis for the 2019 edition of India Art Fair was a rarity—a selection of works of the kind visitors had not before seen. These included a glass mural by Avinash Chandra, a medium the artist loved but which had never before been shown in India; a large mural by Mrinalini Mukherjee; an artist’s chair by Prabhakar Barwe; evocative works by Hemendranath Mazumdar, Manjit Bawa, and Tyeb Mehta; powerful paintings by F. N. Souza, M. F. Husain, Rabin Mondal, and Krishen Khanna; exemplary abstract paintings by Ram Kumar, Shanti Dave, Sohan Qadri, J. Swaminathan, and G. R. Santosh; and other equally powerful artworks including a double-sided sculpture by Meera Mukherjee.

Avinash Chandra F N Souza G R Santosh Hemendranath Majumdar J Swaminathan Krishen Khanna M F Husain Madhvi Parekh Manjit Bawa Meera Mukherjee Mrinalini Mukherjee Paritosh Sen Prabhakar Barwe Rabin Mondal Ram Kumar S H Raza S K Bakre Shanti Dave Sohan Qadri Tyeb Mehta

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March to Freedom re-interprets the well-known story of the Indian freedom struggle and anticolonial movement through works of art and some historic artefacts. Drawn from the collections of DAG, they range from eighteenth and nineteenth century European paintings and prints, to lesser known works by Indian artists that merit greater recognition, alongside some iconic pieces. Rather than following the usual chronological path, the story is structured around eight themes. Each represents one arena, or stage, on which the anti-colonial struggle took place, to expand the story beyond politics, politicians, and battles (which also feature). Conceived to commemorate and celebrate the 75th anniversary of India’s independence, this visual journey seeks to do more. For even as we remember the struggles, the sacrifices, and the stories, such anniversaries are also occasions for reflection, including upon the scholarship that has developed on South Asian history. Some of the latter may be familiar to academics, or those with special interests. For most of the rest of us, our knowledge of this past is derived in large part from hazy memories of school lessons, which change from one generation to the next, and are influenced by concurrent national politics. We also learn from narratives on offer through public channels or in the media, to mark moments of national remembrance or controversy.

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Laxman Narain Taskar’s paintings mirror the ideals of academic realism introduced by the British within their art education system. Indian artists were trained in naturalism, with lessons in soft effects of chiaroscuro and the three-dimensionality of the external world. History painting, perspective, and the copying of Victorian portraits became a vital ingredient within these art schools. Learn More

An ancient civilisation, India was always prized for her fabled wealth—textiles, crafts, spices—her knowledge—literature, scholarship, universities—and her culture—music, dance, theatre, art. It is the only country with an unbroken tradition in each of these disciplines extending all the way back to the Indus Valley Civilisation. Ambadas Anonymous (Kalighat Pat) Arun Bose Asit Kumar Haldar Avinash Chandra B. Prabha Balraj Khanna Bikash Bhattacharjee Bimal Dasgupta Biren De Chittaprosad Company Painting D. P. Roy Chowdhury Early Views of India G. R. Santosh Ganesh Haloi Himmat Shah J. Sultan Ali Jamini Roy Jeram Patel K. S. Kulkarni Krishna Reddy L. Munuswamy M. F. Husain M. Suriyamoorthy Natvar Bhavsar Nikhil Biswas P. T. Reddy Paritosh Sen Prodosh Das Gupta Prokash Karmakar Prosanto Roy Rabin Mondal Rajendra Dhawan S. G. Vasudev Sakti Burman Sanat Kar Sankho Chaudhuri Satish Sinha Shanti Dave Shyamal Dutta Ray Sunayani Devi Sunil Das Sunil Madhav Sen V. Viswanadhan

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The colours we see around us are a complex network of visual signifiers. Like spoken dialects, each colour contains multiple—at times conflicting—meanings that are moulded by a universal base and many regional variances. A. A. Almelkar A. H. Müller A. P. Santhanaraj Abalall Rahiman Abanindranath Tagore Ahmed Amir Altaf Ambadas Amit Ambalal Amitava Anonymous Anupam Sud Avinash Chandra Benode Behari Mukherjee Bijan Choudhary Biren De Bireswar Sen Bishamber Khanna Bishnupada Roy Chowdhury Chittaprosad D. C. Joglekar D. P. Roy Chowdhury Dattatraya Apte Devayani Krishna Devraj Dakoji Dharamanarayan Dasgupta F. N. Souza G. R. Iranna G. R. Santosh G. S. Haldankar Ganesh Haloi Gobardhan Ash Gogi Saroj Pal Hemanta Misra Himmat Shah Indra Dugar Indu Rakshit J. P. Gonsalves J. Sultan Ali Jamini Roy Jeram Patel Jogen Chowdhury Jyoti Bhatt K. C. S. Paniker K. K. Hebbar K. Laxma Goud K. S. Kulkarni Kanwal Krishna Kavita Nayar Krishna Reddy Lalit Mohan Sen Laxman Pai M. F. Husain M. K. Parandekar M. R. Acharekar M. S. Joshi Madhvi Parekh Manu Parekh Nand Katyal Nandalal Bose Natvar Bhavsar Navjot Nicholas Roerich Nikhil Biswas Om Prakash P. Khemraj Paramjit Singh Paresh Maity Paritosh Sen Partha Pratim Deb Prabhakar Barwe Prokash Karmakar Rabin Mondal Radha Charan Bagchi Ramendranath Chakravorty Ramgopal Vijaivargiya Ramkinkar Baij Ranen Ayan Dutta S. H. Raza S. K. Bakre S. L. Haldankar Sanat Chatterjee Sanat Kar Sankho Chaudhuri Satish Gujral Shanti Dave Shobha Broota Somnath Hore Sudhir Khastgir Sunayani Devi Sunil Das V. B. Pathare Vasundhara Tewari Broota Vivan Sundaram Walter Langhammer

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