AH154D Midterm
The Dance (G. Tagore)
G. Tagore, Cartoon style Subject matter is contemporary (Western) society - Western attire Anglo-Indian couple Ballroom dancing: Western subject matter Captures hybridity of culture (not a "pure authentic art")
Composition (G. Tagore)
G. Tagore, watercolor on paper Geometric Modern experimentation with Cubism
A Street Scene Near a Temple (G. Tagore)
G. Tagore Not a temple in the mythological/religious sense - secular image More focused on the people than the place of worship Deliberately difficult to see the temple
Kanchenjunga (G. Tagore)
G. Tagore Using the wash technique - Bengal School technique Mystical landscape, ethereal
Scenes from the Akbarnama (1560s)
1560s; Indo-Persian "Miniature" Painting; made by an atelier - collective tradition (no single artist); very detailed and dynamic scenes; secular themes: love, courtship, battles, etc.; stories within stories (whimsical)
Battle of Plassey (1757)
1757, one of many battles; Indigenous Indian rulers were conquered during this battle; led to the end of the East Indian Company and the start of fully fledged British rule
Company School Paintings (1780s-1860s)
1780s-1860s, one of the 3 pictorial conditions/aesthetic phenomena in which we observe the clash between British and Indian cultures; phenomenon of hybridity; British are opening up art schools → instructing Indian artists on European practices and aesthetics; "Company School" refers to a genre of Indian paintings (by Indians) who were producing work for Europeans (the East Indian Company) that were heavily influenced by European techniques and tastes; hybrid phenomenon; all Indian painters were anonymous; new conditions of patronage, new role and identity of Indian artists, ingenuity of artists figuring out a new style; no consistent aesthetic - return of use of color (in contrast to European paintings from India), sometimes very folk-y; presence of the British was often a subject of these paintings; captures the mixing of cultures; commissioned work for scientific societies: Incredible detail pulls from Mughal style (seen in the hand of the artist) (eg. Black Stork, Indian Birth, Fish from Bengal) Eg.: 8 Men in Burma, The Taj Mahal, Agra from the River Jumna, Interior of Mosque, Basket Makers, Mujaharan Taking his Bride Home, Two Portuguese Men, Indian Sepoy and Wife
Kalighat Paintings (1820s-1930s)
1820s-1930s, one of the 3 pictorial conditions/aesthetic phenomena in which we observe the clash between British and Indian cultures; phenomenon of hybridity; lively form of painting that emerges in Kalkara (?) specifically in the Kalighat Temple; shift from long narrative scrolls to short narratives AND cloth works to printed paper works → sold to tourists; exists within the context of colonialism and capitalism - reflecting back the changing culture; creates a sense of the class/caste system that's evolved with the arrival of the British; elite Indians are benefiting from their proximity to the British; typically secular, but when religious it fuses the two cultures; vibrant colors - uses shading and distinct lines; related to the fact that many of the artists were also potters and understood how to create volume and depth; modern in that the subject matter is westernized, humorous, secular, edge of irony and playfulness; mocking masculinity; mocking culture and class; merging Indigenous culture with colonialist society, just like Company Paintings; artists were anonymous, just like with Company Paintings: this is a problem because it wasn't considered prestigious or prideful Eg: Cat with Fish, Courtesan, Woman Leading her Sheep Lover, Woman Trampling Lover
Untitled (G. Tagore, 1920-1925, pencil on postcard)
G. Tagore, 1920-1925, pencil on postcard Geometric Modern experimentation with Cubism
Ravi Varma (1848-1906)
1848-1906; first oil and easel painter in India - using British painting techniques in Bombay; known as the first modern painter in India; post-modern, post-colonialism creates a cultural blend within art; from the South of India - rural (ish), outside of the big city centers; different Indigenous traditions (not Mughal courts): instead, Hindu religious art is very prevalent (Tanjore painting); he never leaves Indian throughout his career - he's not a global figure; he only absorbs European culture and techniques (oil painting and easel work) through books; from an elite background; embraces academic realism and oil painting; very talented with oil painting and portraiture - gains recognition in the 1870s and '80s → gets commissions from the British; considered as good as Westerners for a lower price for commissions; paints with his brother Raja Varma who's never quite as famous: Raja kept a diary on the everyday life of their work; national iconic figure in Indian history but not well known outside of India; appeals to pop culture with his oleographs Works: Self Portrait, Mrs. Rao and Son, Nizam of Hyderabad, The Giving Hand, Krishna as Ambassador, Rama Conquers Varuna, Victory of Mahanda from Ramayana, Portrait of Lady, Lady with Fruit, Disappointing News, Here Comes Papa, Expectation, Reclining Woman, Laxmi, Saraswati, Galaxy of Musicians
G. Tagore
1867-1938, artist involved in the Bengal School Older brother of A. Tagore Art does not adhere to the style of the Bengal School Doesn't have a consistent style - very eclectic Becomes interested in analytical cubism (Braque and Picasso) - plays with these techniques The Bengal School rejected Europeanism, but by the later years with G. Tagore, there's an embrace of internationalism → no longer a rigid rejection of the West Western critics just saw him as copying European originals - he was notoriously misunderstood/devalued Now we understand that he was creating something unique given his own context Works: The Dance, Kanchenjunga, Movie Theater by Night, A Street Scene Near a Temple, Composition, Untitled, Magician
Galaxy of Musicians (1889, Ravi Varma)
1889, Ravi Varma; group of 11 women representing different regions of India through their clothing → different ethnicities, religions, cultures; not based on an actual group → idealized; value of diversity within unity → projection of a proto-nationalistic identity (PRE Indian independence) onto the female form; Indians like this work because it's autonomous of British rule; very European - female form as a vessel that can be imbued with meaning; about cultural pride - dignified rather than downtrodden; VERY different from something like "A Peep at the Train" (by a European painter) which was made in the same decade (Imperial gaze vs. authentic perspective); imbuing agency onto the Indian people
Reclining Woman (1890, Ravi Varma)
1890, Ravi Varma; similar to the Grande Odalisque (Ingres) and the Olympia (Manet) → iconic French modernist piece → Varma is specifically referencing Olympia; he emphasizes modesty instead of nudity → drapery in contrast to lack of it; she's reading a book - no doubt about her morals; similarity: presence of darker skinned attendant (bringing European social hierarchies into India)
European Paintings (18th/19th centuries)
18th and 19th centuries; one of the three pictorial conditions/aesthetic phenomena in which we observe the clash between British and Indian cultures; focus on the "exotic" character of India: untouched landscape, exotic animals, novelty of the British troops, ruins; perpetuates the idea that the British discovered this land; not a very modern perspective - suggests that Indian exists outside of modernity; emphasis on the wilderness; pre-photography - no visual access to India for those in Europe besides these types of paintings; gives permission to the British for colonizing the land - following a larger sublime plan for the land; very picturesque → eventually becomes more ethnographic (more interest in the people than the land); role of interest in science and anthropology; colonialism requires a more anthropological agenda Eg.: Bay of Bengal, Rope Bridge Near Srinagar, Waterfall in Tamil Nadu, View of St. George, Squall on the Bay of Bengal, Indian Landscape with Figures Near Stream, Mt. Kanchenjunga from Darjeeling, A Peep at the Train
Two Portuguese Men (18th century)
18th century; Company School Paintings; looking at the other (Europeans); border is very Mughal-esque; portraiture is very European
Amrita Sher-Gil
1913-1941; born within a decade of Varma's death → next generation; her life is defined by different locations: born in Budapest, grows up in Europe until age 8, moves to India, lives there from ages 8-16, first Indian accepted to a prestigious art school in Paris → her family moves back to Paris, in 1934, they move back to India → she wants to be THE artist of India, travels around India, becomes influenced by India's artistic traditions: Mughal manuscripts and ancient cave paintings near Bombay (adopts the long almond eyes of Buddhist art); finds enormous success in Indian; question of gender: how the female subject is depicted and by whom; represents a different point of departure for modernist painting than Varma; Punjabi father, Hungarian mother → straddling two worlds; first languages are Hungarian and French, never quite masters Hindi (unlike Ravi Varma); very cosmopolitan, European upbringing; death: found in a pool of blood in her studio, cause of death is unknown/debated; perhaps a botched abortion, dies in the prime of her career; can be seen as the Indian Frida Kahlo: they were contemporaries, but never met and weren't influenced by each other; similarities: women in the beginning of modernism in third-world / global south countries, dynamic, charismatic, strong, beautiful, "exotic," biracial (Frida Kahlo was German and Mexican), bisexual and very well-known for it → visible in the way they both depict the female body, marked by tragedy (Kahlo suffers physical throughout her life; Sher-Gil dies at the age of 29) → tragic destiny; very experimental in her self-portraiture; each portrait seems to depict herself in a slightly different racial identity
Indian Independence (1947)
1947, colonial experience lasted for 200 years - many generations lived under these conditions (colonial modernity); first 100 years were defined by the increasing power of Britain → extraction of resources, conquest → colonialism; second 100 years were defined by the resistance to British rule (led by Gandhi and other leaders) → nationalism
Interior of Mosque (19th century)
19th century, Company School painting; European piano in the center of the mosque; exercise in Renaissance perspective; fineness of the lines is taken from Mughal art
Self Portrait as a Tahitian (Amrita Sher-Gil, 1934)
Amrita Sher-Gil, 1934; Tahitian: influence from/relationship to Gauguin; created after her European self portraits → 1934 is the year she reenters Indian; prepares her to transition back to India; self portrait, partial nude in the body of a Tahitian subject: depicting herself as one of Gauguin's subjects, cross-racial; ¾ pose, confident, not a reclining nude; looking into the future, turning away from the past; hair is bolstering her stance - like armor; paints herself with depth and shading, unlike Gauguin's figures are very flat and 2D; working so hard to figure out her skin tone - using so many different colors to perfect her skin tone; trying to figure out how to paint a brown person not in the way that Gauguin did; her own body was one of the only brown bodies she'd painted at this point; arms: too long, hangs are too big; protecting herself and her sexuality; maybe just working out how to depict the human form because she's still new to painting; bulbous breasts - perhaps significant; not meeting the gaze of the viewer - rejecting the male gaze; background: Japanese influence; departure from Gauguin and her own previous self portraits: Indigenous style hair, crossed hands - powerful, commanding, wearing lipstick: rejecting the tropes of the natural world and exotification of non-Western people; insisting on herself as a painter and a refined/cultured figure; retaining control and agency; not using Gauguin-esque colors; not using fruit/nature exotic/erotic imagery; departing from Gauguin's borderline violent sexuality; background: Japanese/Korean/Chinese style, hair blends into the shadow of a male figure standing behind her (possible Gauguin or van Gogh), shadow of the masculine tradition that Gauguin represents Asian style - idea of multiculturalism (Tahiti, India, Europe, Asia); intervening in the global map of modernism; the visibility of painters like Sher-Gil is only starting to emerge - lack of discourse and scholarship, potential for opportunities; cross-cultural archival journey: to understand Amrita Sher-Gil you must understand the cannon of European modernism; physical abnormalities: oversized breasts, long arms, long hair, enlarged neck, probing eyes, lipstick, skin color; compare to: "Woman Holding a Fruit" and "Spirit of the Dead Watching" (Gauguin); background: male shadow = shadow of the male modernism; Asian motifs in the background; what is the relationship between the foreground and the background: foreground: relationship to Gauguin; background: relationship to Asia → represents van Gogh's relationship to Japan; not drawing from the Bengal School (because she hates the school); doesn't really matter whether these images are actually Japanese, Korean, Chinese, etc. → they're projections; interested in the way that Western painters are looking at non-Western cultures (Gauguin and Tahiti; van Gogh and Japan): Primitivism (Gauguin) and Orientalism (van Gogh); the themes of the background are consistent with the foreground; interested in the ethical model of the "self portrait AS"
South Indian Villagers Going to the Market (Amrita Sher-Gil, 1937)
Amrita Sher-Gil, 1937; Indian portraiture; seen as a mass → collective identity, not individualized; exotic features and attire
Oleograph
A lithographic print textured to resemble an oil painting; used by the Varma brothers to open up a printing press and disseminate their works to a mass audience in India; subject matter: ancient texts, nationalism, pretty women → pop culture; their art becomes very kitschy; through this, Varma is in a sense a prototype for the 20th and 21st century visual culture in India
Modernism
A period of artistic production in response to both modernity and modernization (an aesthetic response)
Bharat Mata (Mother India) (A. Tagore, 1905)
A. Tagore, 1905 Most famous painting, very iconic in India This is the painting that launches his career with the Bengal school Woman looks like a goddess (4 arms), but it is an invented goddess that represents India → gendered trope for the nation (nationalism) Each arm is holding: A rosary A sacred scripture A cloth A piece of foliage Idea that mother India is providing: food clothing, spirituality, knowledge She's a benevolent, kind, semi-goddess Standing in an ethereal realm Woman looks so human-like Mughal miniature paintings: halo Wash technique Solidifies that national identity that Ravi Varma was striving for with Galaxy of Musicians First national iconic image → at the time, this image was radical (vision of an independent nation)
The Brahmacharis (Amrita Sher-Gil, 1937)
Amrita Sher-Gil, 1937; different skin tones - playing with color and identity; brahmacharis were priests in training; use of white is striking and very experimental
Westernization
Adoption of western ideas, technology, and culture; this was seen in India due to the arrival of the British → this can be seen in the art (new media, techniques, themes, styles, etc.); Westernization defines culture: influence of English language, changes the visual language as well
Young Girls (Amrita Sher-Gil, 1932)
Amrita Sher-Gil, 1932, made while she was in art school in Paris - she's a teenager; Sher-Gil has won awards while learning the French tradition; very solid technically, but these paintings look like what other students are capable of; reminiscent of Renoir (fuzziness); very conventional Bourgeoisie space
Professional Model (Amrita Sher-Gil, 1932)
Amrita Sher-Gil, 1932; during Paris art school days; model is a tuberculosis patient - body is very unhealthy and sickly; not depicting a "beautiful" body - interesting relationship to the female nude; not sexualized
Reclining Nude (Amrita Sher-Gil, 1933)
Amrita Sher-Gil, 1933, made while she was in art school in Paris - she's a teenager; Sher-Gil has won awards while learning the French tradition; very solid technically, but these paintings look like what other students are capable of; reminiscent of Manet, Cezanne (angled composition)
Two Girls (Amrita Sher-Gil, 1937)
Amrita Sher-Gil, 1937; from her Indian painting era; use of white, and dark colors for the bodies; potentially about her bisexuality - very modern subject matter; there currently isn't much queer interpretation of Sher-Gil's work
Woman Resting on Charpoy (Amrita Sher-Gil, 1940)
Amrita Sher-Gil, 1940; from her Indian painting era; charpoy is a village cot (a bed) made of a wooden frame; scene of poverty; woman is lying on the bed with a female attendant; reminiscent of Olympia by Manet, Reclining Woman by Ravi Varma; reclining nude; playing with the convention - reversal of tradition; very different from convention: depicting poverty, not sexualizing the woman - very unshapely, [laying with color: woman is red; [ainting is very red: woman, bedposts, carpet, glass, walls, attendant's fan and hand; woman is a desiring object, rather than an object of desire: use of red. woman has eyes closed, in a dream. a woman involved in her own sexuality, not the object of a man's desire → very progressive; bindi is on her head: married? perhaps suffocated, trapped in her marriage, fantasizing about something/someone outside of her marriage; one of her last paintings → impossible to separate this painting from her own biography: she was discovered in a pool of blood (red), hand on her abdomen: reference to sexuality, tender, sensitive, [otentially evokes her own story about her abortion, touching herself
Heldi Grinders (Amrita Sher-Gil, 1940)
Amrita Sher-Gil, 1940; heldi is turmeric - use of strong color; use of white is striking and very experimental
The Ancient Storyteller (Amrita Sher-Gil, 1940)
Amrita Sher-Gil, 1940; influence of Mughal tradition; mythological, influenced by ancient stories; use of white is striking and very experimental
Last Unfinished Painting (Amrita Sher-Gil, 1941)
Amrita Sher-Gil, 1941; on her easel when she was found dying in her studio; potentially a village scene with buffalo; view from her studio in Lahore; Lahore a few years later becomes part of Pakistan; lots of color; there's no human figures - shocking because ALL of her past works were portraits; potentially leading to a new artistic direction that she heading; very unusual vantage point and sense of space; raises many questions
Hill Women; Three Girls (Amrita-Sher Gil, 1935)
Amrita-Sher Gil, both in 1935; made when she moved back to India - VERY different from her Paris work; shift from European Bourgeoisie → poor Indian subjects; she was taken by the beauty in the misery and suffering of the Indian peasants; she's projecting onto these subjects as an "other" - she wasn't from poverty in India Sense of melancholy, dignity of suffering; her Indian portraiture are usually in groups (unlike most of Ravi Varma's work); the figures create a singular mass - they almost bleed into each other; feet are oversized, planted into the earth
Progressive Artists Group (1947, Bombay)
Announced themselves with a manifesto Dramatic shift of the center of the art world from Calcutta (Santiniketan) to Bombay/Mumbai Site is the former colonial art school: J.J. School of Art (Bombay) Mythical legacy in the history of Indian art Known for experimentation and embrace of all different artistic traditions Breaking from the colonial past Figure-head of modernism in India Edgy/rebel reputation 3 of the artists are from a minority background (Raza and Husain are Muslim; Souza is Christian; Ara is low caste) Synchronized effort to paint the nation as "an imagined community" → underlying comradeship in spite of violence of partition No common aesthetic, just unified by values 6 founding members: MF Husain, SH Raza, FH Souza, KH Ara, Sadanand Bakre, HA Gade What was progressive about this group? Leftists Opposed to the existing canons in Indian art Committed to anti-fascism and anti-colonialism Bridging the gulf between artists and the people Inspired by Sher-Gil, NOT the Bengal School Internationalists - inspired by all other trends in modernism across the globe Constructing Indian-ness Urban identity - painting the people Critique: all male Dynamic between representOR and representED Progressive Artists Movement emerged at the dawn of Indian Independence
Movie Theater by Night (G. Tagore)
G. Tagore Using the wash technique for contemporary subject matter Movies were a new technology - a novelty Depicting electric not natural light → shows modernization Idea of the urban crowd - departing from the "untouched" landscapes Similar to European Impressionists
Mill Call (Baij, 1956)
Baij, 1946 Subject matter: 2 Santhal women rushing to the mill as a siren is blaring Depicts laborers Not warriors, but warrior-like Wind in hair → role of nature Comparison to Sher-Gil: Hill Women, Going to the Market → different perspectives on the subaltern at roughly the same time Baij depicts the Santhal with agency and pride and strength (not weakness, resignation) Baij's figures are individualized but also unified (not just a mass)
Woodcut of Gandhi (Nandalal Bose, 1930s)
Bose, 1930s, about Gandhi's salt march Very simple woodcut print - strong lines = sense of determination
Haripura Posters (Nandalal Bose, 1938)
Bose, 1938, Kalighat painting, poster for an anti-colonial movement, very political
8 Men in Burma
Company School Paintings; legacy of Mughal perspective; playing with perspective (contrast to Mughal art which was known for being flat)
Subaltern studies
Cultural ideas influence and are influenced by real issues of access to wealth, power, and status
Mt. Kanchenjunga from Darjeeling (Edward Lear, 1877)
Edward Lear, 1877, European Paintings; Himalayas in the background Sublime, celestial → dreamscape; very unrealistic/imagined Indigenous people are included for scale; Biblical justification: visually reminiscent of the parting of the Red Sea → Himalayas are the Promised Land; very artificial - land doesn't actually look like this
Japonisme
European projection of desire onto Japanese culture (Orientalism) Van Gogh never went to Japan, yet it is present in so much of his work
Magician (G. Tagore)
G. Tagore Influence of Cubism Appears theater-like, but subject matter is very unclear Red, white and blue Experimental Magician: playing with what's real or true
Battle Scenes (Hamra Abbas, 2006)
Hamra Abbas, 2006; contemporary artist working with the Indo-Persian Miniature Paintings; using photography and a light box; photographs of people in Hyde Park in the same position as people in the Akbarnama Battle Scenes; creates a very different type of battle scene that's part of a very different world - using contemporary themes but playing with the formal elements of the tradition of the miniature paintings and manuscripts
Apu and the Train (Husain)
Husain Apu: young boy in a well-known film Flipping Swoboda's "A Peep at the Train:" relationship between urban industrial space to rural setting
Raj Series (Husain)
Husain Critiquing European high civilization
Horse & Rider (Husain)
Husain Horse riding is part of the Islamic storytelling
Hanuman & Woman (Husain)
Husain Pairing a God with a secular person
Portrait of an Umbrella (Husain)
Husain Portrait is actually of the woman, not the umbrella → critiquing the way in which other artists depict women and don't depict the subaltern class Umbrella = shelter
Zameen (Husain, 1955)
Husain, 1955, Zameen means "the street" Mural - panorama of people, animals, objects, activities Mixing rural and urban Mixing goldy realm and earthly realm
Bengal School
Indian painting school that draws influence from Asia rather than Europe This is considered the establishment (which Sher-Gil didn't like) First proper attempt by a collective to create a new Indian art at the turn of the century → establishing a school, not just individuals Archives of the interactions between artists in the School Named after the state of Bengal, revolving around the city of Kalkara (eastern side of India) Rejecting the colonizer in art → rejecting oil and easel They HATE Ravi Varma because he represents the European establishment Staunchly anti-colonial Looking to Asia for influence, turning away from Europe Ancient traditions are very important to the Bengal School Artists: A. Tagore, Nandalal Bose, G. Tagore
A. Tagore
Influence on the Bengal School (1871-1951) Key figure of the Bengal School - educates others in this style Related to Rabindranath Tagore (this is a very powerful family) First principle of the school of art Rejects academic realism and oil painting of Ravi Varma Wants to find a new Indian art (stylistic alternative), in sync with India's artistic heritage Turns to Mughal miniature tradition, ancient stories of the subcontinent Water wash technique - causes a soft, hazy, blurry style → hallmark of the Bengal School Sher-Gil is very critical of the romanticism of this style Very Asian style Very different from the realism of the European landscapes Very beautiful, ethereal Influenced by both Islam and Hinduism Subject matter is rooted in the past Works: Stormy Night The Passing of Shah Jahan (1900): Shah Jahan: ruler that built the Taj Mahal; beautiful marble; intimate, beautiful scene Hunting Scene (1910) Ascending Himalayas (1920) Song Birds Amongst Bamboo (1920, watercolors on paper): super influenced by Japan and China At the Ganges (1920): widow at the Ganges Emperor's March to Kashmir Muntaz: Shah Jahan's wife (the woman for whom the Taj Mahal was built); very romantic - wash technique The Sati: sati: the practice of widow suicide in Hindu tradition; very ethereal and heavenly (use of light); human-looking, but goddess-like; Tagore seems supportive of Sati Journey's End: story from the 1001 Arabian Nights: camel dies of thirst; very dramatic, but still romanticized; sort of a history painting Bharat Mata (Mother India) (1905)
Nandalal Bose
Influence on the Bengal School 1883-1966 Student of A Tagore → replicating elements of his style Quickly abandons the style of A Tagore, and turns to new subject matter of rural traditions (reminiscent of Kalighat paintings) Eventually joins and makes are for the Gandhi movement Works: Draupadi's Wedding: very reminiscent of ancient Buddhist wall paintings; based on a text; characteristic of Bengal School style Siva Drinking World Poison: wash technique; romantic vision; reminiscent of ancient Buddhist wall paintings; based on a text; characteristic of Bengal School style Krishna (1920, watercolor on silk): complex background; characteristic of Bengal School style Haripura Posters (1938) Kalighat paintings Poster for an anti-colonial movement Very political Woodcut of Gandhi (1930s)
Swadeshi Movement/swaraj
Influence on the Bengal School Economic strategy to remove the British from power and to improve economic conditions in India through principles of swaraj Boycotts, homegrown indigenous products Translates to Indian self-sufficiency
Santiniketan
Influence on the Bengal School Established by poet Rabindranath Tagore in 1901): the site of Tagore's experiments in education Became a university by the 1920s → even under colonial conditions Rural setting (an hour outside of Kalkara) Tribal presence (often a subject for painting) Art school within the university: Visva-Bharati University
Ernest Fenollosa/Okakura Kakuzo
Influence on the Bengal School Japanese intellectuals Exchange between Japanese scholars and the Bengal School → Asian unity against the European empire Okakura Kakuzo: pan-Asian identity
EB Havell/AL Coomaraswamy
Influence on the Bengal School Writers Havell: British, aligned with Indian Independence Coomaraswamy: Sri Lankan, supporting the movements Birth of modern art criticism, discourse
Courtesan
Kalighat painting; class status - dressed in Western attire (shoes); role of gender - lampooning of gender relations; Krishna, Hindu god, is present but in a Madonna/Child way
Cat with Fish
Kalighat painting; scroll; cheshire cat figure; cat is holding an animal (shellfish, lobster, fish, scorpion) in its mouth - very common image
Woman Leading her Sheep Lover; Woman Trampling Lover
Kalighat paintings
Santhal Women (Zainul Abedin, 1931)
Zainul Abedin, 1931 Faceless (from behind) Depiction of the subaltern Distance between the elite painter and the Santhal subject Very idealized and bucolic → objectified, primitivism, projections of the elite onto the subaltern
Ramkinkar Baij
Part of the Bengal School Artist that comes from a low caste, low class background (village background) Arrives at Santiniketan in 1925 He is a subaltern figure His works belong to an earthly environment and European/Western modernism (Rodin) Rejects the historicism of the Bengal School - interested in the present, not the past Embraces internationalism Very eclectic - subject matter is the environment around him Style includes a little bit of everything: Cubism, calligraphy brush strokes, Impressionism, etc. Absorbs many different influences Doesn't adhere to the styles and themes of the Bengal School Paints with very quick brush strokes Aligned with G. Tagore in their rejection of the pan-Asian aesthetic and embrace of all influences Tension/relationship between indigenonism and internationalism First subaltern artist in India; worked to represent the tribal, indigenous and rural communities in India Very different figure from Amrita Sher-Gil, but contemporaneous Comparison: Santhal Family vs. Hill Women/South Indian Villagers Going to the Market Subaltern studies have become a very important subject following Baij → telling the history of the global south from an authentic perspective
MF Husain
Part of the Progressive Artists Group Most important and influential founding member Major allegorist of the nation Paints non-stop - has thousands of pieces Subject matter: women Uniting Indian, Muslim and Western mythologies Eclectic, synthetic Painting a portrait of a secular, modern nation Work is hopeful, affirmative Desire to give humanity to the subaltern Borders towards abstraction, but still figural
1757-1947
Period of modernity in India (period of British imperial rule) 1757: Battle of Plassey 1947: Indian Independence
Atlas of my World (Zarina, 2001, woodcut)
Zarina, 2001, woodcut Minimalist woodcut Depicts the new partition between India and Pakistan Looks like an umbilical cord Recognizable as a map, but more emotional than that Borders extend beyond the end of the page Documents the scar/physical trauma that has been imposed on the people of Pakistan and India
Santhal Family (Ramkinkar Baij, 1938, cement)
Ramkinkar Baij, 1938, cement Looking at the subaltern Santhal were a tribal group Iconic sculpture: large scale, outdoor Mass of liquid cement that was molded onto a wire frame Resembled an aged rock - very coarse surface - connection with nature Subject matter: woman, man, child, dog Symbol of the family and the Santhal community/collective Literally elevating the Santhal people Powerful act of representation of a marginalized group → bringing them into modernism → first of the Bengal School to do this
Self Portrait (Varma)
Ravi Varma, dignified, not afraid to show his age, very regal; Western style: posed elegantly on a prop (that symbolizes something); similar to Western portraiture and photography; prop: cane symbolizes maturity and wisdom; emphasis on the right hand (the hand he uses for his craft); made himself seem a bit slimmer; he's given himself a glow/aura which adds to his grandeur → almost like he's been touched by a higher power; medal was bestowed by the imperial government - boasting his approval from the imperial government; strong identity as an artist, rather than with the company and Kalighat paintings
Here Comes Papa (Ravi Varma)
Ravi Varma; motherly scene; woman is from South India; dog = loyalty/fidelity (European symbolism); baby looks like a Renaissance cherub - almost feels Christian/religious; nuclear family - projection onto Indian society (patriarchy)
Portrait of Lady; Lady with Fruit (Ravi Varma)
Ravi Varma; not nudes - very respectable and dignified, almost chaste; still sexualized in "painter code" (eg. image of ripe fruit); still objectified Ravi Varma's depiction of women turns them into objects of desire/the male gaze: his women look like the objects that adorn them; objectification, idealization; role of fruit in his paintings → very sexualized; Varma was still an important transitional figure in modernism, but these critiques are important
Laxmi; Saraswati (Ravi Varma)
Ravi Varma; paintings of Hindu mythological figures in European style
Mrs. Rao and Son; Nizam of Hyderabad (Ravi Varma)
Ravi Varma; paintings of the Indian elite (not the exact painting depicted but similar)
The Giving Hand; Krishna as Ambassador; Rama Conquers Varuna (Ravi Varma)
Ravi Varma; similar stylistically to European history paintings about Greek and Roman history but instead it's about Indian mythology; large format oil paintings; this has a mass appeal to Indians
Victory of Mahananda from Ramayana (Ravi Varma)
Ravi Varma; vibrant colors (pinks and oranges); emphasis on grandeur of costumes, textiles and materials; looks like a Roman scene
Disappointing News; Expectation (Ravi Varma)
Ravi Varma; vignette/story like; drama and emotion; Renaissance style - evidence that he's been studying European art; micro-emotional landscape for women
A Peep at the Train (Rudolf Swoboda, 1890)
Rudolf Swoboda, 1890, European Paintings; hired by Queen Victoria Scene is a group of villagers in the desert; supposed to be ethnographic and realistic - it is still a caricature; railway track in the bottom corner alludes to British presence and difference between British and Indian cultures; viewer's perspective is from the train - we are from the European perspective; role of color - no longer earthy and natural; purpose is to contrast industrialization/modernity/British culture and Indian culture - no contact between the two cultures; temporality: train is just passing through the village → progression from the past to the future; villagers are characterized by a sense of awe towards the experience of modernization and modernity; documents an encounter between past and present - fence is separating one from the other; just the hint of the train tracks is enough to show how overpowering it would be in comparison to the Indigenous village; relationship between old and new is also seen in the old man and the young children; this painting was created from memory 3 years later - based on other smaller portraits he's made; artifice: this painting is not actually ethnographic
Sunayani Devi
Sister of A. and G. Tagore In the shadow of her male siblings - never given the same status as them Subject matter: women
Milkmaids (Sunayani Devi, 1920, watercolor and gouache on paper)
Sunayani Devi, 1920, watercolor and gouache on paper
Lady with Parrot (Sunayani Devi, watercolor with tempera on paper)
Sunayani Devi, watercolor with tempera on paper
Indian Sepoy and Wife (Tanjore)
Tanjore, Company School Painting; Indian soldier in British colonial outfit Wife is wearing more traditional Indian clothes - contrast of outfits
Company School Paintings
The Taj Mahal; Agra from the River Jumna; Basket Makers; Mujaharan Taking his Bride Home
Modernity
The historical and cultural condition of living through the process of modernization (the product)
Indo-Persian "Miniature" Painting
The prevailing pre-modern painting tradition in Indian; pre-British arrival to India; emerged from Persian manuscript painting; flourished in India from 16th-18th century under the Mughal emperors; courtly tradition, secular, cosmopolitan, syncretic, collaborative; eg. Scenes from the Akbarnama
Modernization
The process of technological change (Industrial Revolution, 19th and 20th centuries); radical transformation of society; colonialism was a part of modernization -- this has an effect on the art and culture of non-Western countries; non-Western countries were understood as outdated/outside of the process of modernization --> temporal and cultural judgment
Rope Bridge Near Srinagar (Thomas Daniell, 1800)
Thomas Daniell, 1800s, European Paintings; landscape; vastness of the landscape/nature in comparison to the man-made architecture; rope bridge: sense of Indigenous ingenuity; built environment seems to grow organically out of the rock - man-made architecture is an extension of the God-created land; open for inhabitation; very subliminal
Waterfall in Tamil Nadu (Thomas Daniell, 1830s)
Thomas Daniell, 1830s, European Paintings; strength of the land/water; showcasing Indigenous ingenuity - depicting the Indigenous people as pre-modern and exotic; sense of spirituality; ancient - outside of modernity; people provide scale (to show the grandness of the place)
Global modernism
Viewing modernism through a global frame rather than understanding modernism through a Eurocentric lens
Sisters with Two Girls (Vivan Sundaram, 2001)
Vivan Sundaram, 2001, part of the Retake of Amrita; Amrita and her sister in front of one of her paintings ("Two Girls"); juxtaposition: lived experience paired with her artistic works
Dancing in the Life-Class (Vivan Sundaram, 2001)
Vivan Sundaram, 2001, part of the Retake of Amrita; Amrita as a student in Paris at a dancing event; Amrita's nude portraits in the background → the most prominent one is the non-Western one
Presenting Papa (Vivan Sundaram, 2001)
Vivan Sundaram, 2001, part of the Retake of Amrita; Amrita's father took all/most of these photographs; throughout his life, he took photographs of himself in yoga poses → these are self portraits; one of his yoga portraits is overlaid on a photo of Amrita's sister; very humorous
Amrita Beside Mother's Portrait (Vivan Sundaram, 2001)
Vivan Sundaram, 2001, part of the Retake of Amrita; depicted next to her younger sister by a portrait of their mother; mixing European and Indian aspects of the family and their home; very cosmopolitan; Amrita is in a sari, her sister and mother are in European attire; 3 woman are in a triangular form: very stable, self reliant on each other (without a male presence) → role of the matriarchy; symbol of the open window: pioneering a future
Lovers (Vivan Sundaram, 2001)
Vivan Sundaram, 2001, part of the Retake of Amrita; father in a yogic pose; European interior space; lovers are Sher-Gil and her boyfriend in the portrait on the wall; smaller portraits of Indian women
Remembering the Past, Looking to the Future (Vivan Sundaram, 2001)
Vivan Sundaram, 2001, part of the Retake of Amrita; location: family home in India; father is an academic; Amrita and her sister Hungarian mother in the background; we know that Amrita dies very early → causes her mother to enter a depressive state and ultimately commits suicide; her father grows old but in melancholy; her sister continues the family line through Sundaram; sense of sadness - not a happy family portrait
Bourgeois Family: Mirror Frieze (Vivan Sundaram, 2001)
Vivan Sundaram, 2001, part of the Retake of Amrita; masterpiece of the series; panorama of all members of the family looking into a mirror; identity, refraction; Sher-Gil looking at Indian and Western selves; mother looking at herself in a kimono like robe; sister also looking at herself; father is holding Sundaram, who's holding a small camera (self portraiture); powerful frieze of the family experience; blurry to clear in order of death/length of life → Sundaram is the focal point; family is like a series of ghosts around Sundaram Sundaram was born after Sher-Gil has died, meaning that this is a very artificial scene; use of mirrors is very sophisticated: identity is not simple, it's refracted
Retake of Amrita (Vivan Sundaram, 2001)
Vivan Sundaram, 2001; Sundaram is a contemporary artist and is Amrita Sher-Gil's nephew; this body of work revisits the personal family archive of photographs → digitizes and revisits the history of Sher-Gil; use of mirrors - self reflection of half Indian, half European self; unclear what is part of the original project and what has been manipulated by Sundaram; some of these works are very humorous Focused on the juxtapositions within Amrita's life; Western vs. Indian; real life vs. artistic works; untethered to history: mixing temporality, locations, cultures, etc.; ahistorical; though Sundaram was never alive at the same time as his aunt, he's haunted by her legacy Includes: Amrita Beside Mother's Portrait, Dancing in the Life-Class, Sisters with Two Girls, Presenting Papa, Lovers, Remembering the Past, Looking to the Future, Bourgeois Family: Mirror Frieze
The One and the Many (Vivan Sundaram, 2015)
Vivan Sundaram, 2015 Revisit of Ramkinkar Baij (after the Retake of Amrita) Exhibit was complex - contained aspects of theater Installation: Proliferation of mini Santhal Family sculptures Terra cotta Not a direct replica of the Baij sculpture Homage to the Baij sculpture and a desire to multiply and proliferate its message Arguing that Baij's story is a story that many could relate to Sundaram himself wasn't part of the subaltern He was a radical Marxist - his own politics identify with the subaltern Attempting to negotiate with his own higher class identity (with the Retake of Amrita and this project) Critical rethinking of class - can argue that it was successful or that it was problematic
Mill Recall (Vivan Sundaram, 2015, moveable stage prop, motor car parts)
Vivan Sundaram, 2015, moveable stage prop, motor car parts Part of the revisit of Ramkinkar Raij → response to "Mill Call" by Baij "Re" is a very important concept to Sundaram New medium - metal rather than terra cotta → industrialization Mobile sculpture - has wheels Art historical reference: Alexander Calder (history of Western art) De-romanticizing the role of a physical laborer - mechanized vision of human labor (where is the human in this?) Made from recycled parts (trash) - creating something from nothing
View of St. George, Squall on the Bay of Bengal (William Daniell, 1833)
William Daniell, 1833, European Paintings; imagined geography - projection of European desires; presence of the British; St. George was one of the first imperial encampments in India - painting displays British architecture; ocean is tossing the ships around - power of nature; mostly black and white (night scene); narrative of rescue - the British are rescuing the vulnerable Indigenous people from the elements
Indian Landscape with Figures Near Stream (William Daniell, 1839)
William Daniell, 1839, European Paintings; dreamlike, not realist at all; very mythological; ruins represent Indian pre-colonization; city in the background represents the British colonialism; uses European conventions and aesthetics - projecting onto an idea of India
Bay of Bengal (William Hodges, 1770s)
William Hodges, 1770s, European Paintings; Imperial views → Orientalist tradition (19th century)
