| Story Text | [{"record_id":"0","storytext":"Unknown until the 1970s, Sita Ram is now recognized as one of the most accomplished artists belonging to the emergent aesthetic style in colonial India that is often described as the \u2018Company School\u2019 (deriving from the British East India Company). Some scholars have also identified him to belong to the Murshidabad School of painting that was in decline by the early nineteenth century\u2014leading artists like Sita Ram to cultivate new patrons. In this work, he depicts a popular view of Lucknow that he saw during one of his early travels with a patron, representing the city\u2019s architectural delights.","initialize":"true","storytextauthor":""},{"record_id":"1","storytext":"Between June 1814 and early October 1815, Sita Ram journeyed extensively alongside Francis Rawdon, also known as the Marquess of Hastings, who had been appointed the Governor General of India in 1813. The journey was made from Kolkata upstream towards Jind (in Haryana), with the paintings conducting a \u2018continuous visual narration of the expedition and complement(ing) Hasting's written account\u2019, according to a historian. He made 229 large watercolour paintings depicting landscapes and buildings, which were then committed to a folio volume to be used as a picture album.","initialize":"true","storytextauthor":""},{"record_id":"2","storytext":"In the distant background, towards the right, is the Rumi Darwaza, one of the tallest such gateways in the world at 60 feet with a central arched opening and smaller arches on either side. The central arch has a height of 30 meters. It was built in 1784 during the reign of Nawab Asaf-ud-Daula, who was the fourth Nawab of Awadh, with burnt clay bricks and lime-crushed brick mortar. The architectural style reflects a blend of Persian and Awadhi influences, but with a marked departure from traditional Mughal architectural styles. The name \u2018Rumi\u2019 is derived from the Arabic word for Rome, indicating the city's connection to the Byzantine architecture of Istanbul (formerly Constantinople). ","initialize":"true","storytextauthor":""},{"record_id":"3","storytext":"On the left, we see the gateway to the Bara Imambara. Also built in 1784, it was meant to serve as a place of worship for Muslims and as a hall for majlis<\/I> or mourning assemblies during the holy month of Muharram. The gate is a grand entrance that leads to the main courtyard of the Bara Imambara. It features a central arched opening with smaller arched alcoves on either side. Known for its height and ornate decorations, it has a balcony on top, allowing visitors to get a panoramic view of the surrounding area. ","initialize":"true","storytextauthor":""},{"record_id":"4","storytext":"Architecture historians have described buildings like these in Awadh as embodying a \u2018debased Mughal\u2019 style, which attempted to fuse Indo-Islamic traditions with European-inspired classical styles and materials. \u2018The formerly robust outlines\u2019 that one associated with Mughal buildings, \u2018have been attenuated, so that the buildings are elegant but etiolated\u2019, according to G. H. R. Tillotson. This pale, \u2018etiolated\u2019 form is highlighted in Sita Ram\u2019s painting, so that the use of stucco is visible, in contrast to richer qualities of material and ornament used for older Mughal structures.","initialize":"true","storytextauthor":""},{"record_id":"5","storytext":"Some scholars have perceived a certain nostalgia for the Mughal empire in Sita Ram\u2019s work. He may have seen these structures to be representative of a newer order, reflected in its uneasy mixture of styles, heralded by the new rulers of the subcontinent who were expanding their territories after winning crucial wars with local rulers. Excluding the Bara Imambara from this scene may have played into this attitude too, since that complex features a more robust structure used by locals every day.","initialize":"true","storytextauthor":""},{"record_id":"6","storytext":"The Treaty of Lucknow in 1801 had established a subsidiary alliance between the British East India Company and the then Nawab of Awadh. According to this treaty, the British agreed to provide military protection to Awadh in exchange for a portion of its revenue. This was part of the Company's expansionist policy and a means to exert influence over Indian princely states. By 1814, when Nawab Wazir Ali ascended the throne of Awadh, the region saw increased interference from the British in the internal affairs of the state. The British, under the pretext of misrule and maladministration, exerted more control over Awadh's governance.","initialize":"true","storytextauthor":""},{"record_id":"7","storytext":"Sita Ram paints the two dominating gateways as somewhat insubstantial or unsupported, as if they were about to fall over. The expanse of sky in the background adds to this sense of immateriality, as if the whole scene was transient, reflecting the political and economic precarity of Awadh at the time.","initialize":"true","storytextauthor":""},{"record_id":"8","storytext":"The scene converges upon several such transitional moments in Indian history, reflected in the styles of architecture, political regimes, as well as the artistic devices employed by Sita Ram. Associated initially with the Murshidabad school, with its characteristic loose brushstrokes, he also employs a perspective that he would have learned from European artists (or works) arriving since the previous century, who were making their own travel albums.","initialize":"true","storytextauthor":""},{"record_id":"9","storytext":"While in other works in the series Sita Ram would depict processions entering through the Rumi Darwaza or show closer views of these structures, this scene presents a more relaxed environment. There\u2019s an elephant in the foreground, but it hardly musters its usual significance as a symbol of power or military strength in India, due to its solitary appearance.","initialize":"true","storytextauthor":""},{"record_id":"10","storytext":"We also see a bullock cart, a horse, and groups of men gathered under awnings or smoking hookahs; some are carrying umbrellas, suggesting the white heat of a bright sunny day to be one of the reasons for the blanched appearance of the built structures. Overall, it appears to be a peaceful scene, giving us a glimpse of how the local population used the space for their leisure hours\u2014an every day human drama that is often missing in similar views painted by European artists. ","initialize":"true","storytextauthor":""}] |
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| Art Artist Names Single | Sita Ram |
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