Art of India FINAL EXAM

Raja Ravi Varma

(1848-1906), aristocrat who becomes painter, he is self taught mostly, and does three main types of work: portraits, figure studies, and finally: GODS AND GODDESSES in human forms but modernized.

Muslim artist Sahibdin

1620-1655

Mewar Rana Jagat Singh

1628 - 1652

Jagat Singh I's Mewar Ramayana Seven Volume illustrated manuscript . - Descendent of the baby who was taken out of the siege of Chittor . - Patronizes books and the epic tales of Lord Ram - Ramayan (7 books) which was lead by muslim Sahad Ding (who could have been trained at Mughal Court) . - Patronizes the paintings because he and ancestors viewed themselves as descendants of Ram Sisodiyan family calmined lineage -> therefore showing he was able to claim legitimacy and lingeage during a hard political time

1648 - 1652 most likely painted over a 12 year period Jagat Singh I's Mewar Master Artists of the Udaipur Court Painting Workshop Sahabdin, Manohar, an unnamed artist from the Deccan

Akbar-Nama: 1590-97 Akbar and the Elephant Hawai, Hunting scenes, etc. Emperor Akbar on an elephant hunt," Basawan and Chetar, illustrations from the Akbarnama, c. 1586-89, Mughal painitng, opaque watercolor and gold on paper,

Akbar-Nama: 1590-97 All his events, a diary Basanava and Chitra (has name of artist and colorist, one Muslim and one Indian) Very naturalistic color in boat elephant scene -- Akbar rides elephant Hawaii who was ferocious and rode well, elephant fights another elephant Detailed -- fish and waves, fairly realistic color, and no horizon like (that is above the page we are up close) All vertical, more realistic

East India Company Daniells: 1786-93

An English company formed in 1600 to develop trade with the new British colonies in India and southeastern Asia.

Humayun's Tomb

Delhi (1993), Built in 1570, First Garden Tomb, Charbagh, Akbar built it, Dormitory of the Mughals, Centered at the Shrine of Sufi Saint Nizzamuddin Auliya, Yamuna River

Taj Mahal, Agra, India

Built by Akbar's grandson Shah Jahan as tomb for him and his wife Mausoleum, charbagh garden Gardens are four square inside four square Floral imagery = paradise, features of beloved, flowering of culture - inlaid stone (like Italy) 9 square plan from Timurid and Persian At center are cenotaphs

Khan-Khanan Ramayana

Emperor Akbar, being a great lover of Indian literature and culture, has the credit of having translations done of the Ramayana and the Mahabharata into Persian to make them popular amongst Persian-knowing people, especially Muslims. By his liberal patronage, he promoted national integration and brought unification of the country winning the hearts of the Hindu masses. His personal copy of the Ramayana, having been translated and illustrated after a labour of almost five years, was completed in 996 AH (1587 AD) is not available to us today, probably being a precious part of some Rajput treasure. In the absence of the royal copy, the second contemporary copy, prepared for Abdur-Rahim Khan-i-Khanan, by permission of Akbar, This was the first occasion when the Valmiki's Ramayana had been translated into Persian and illustrated with fine miniatures by painters of repute. Ramayana in Sanskrit was never illustrated. By translating the story into Persian, it was an act of popularising Hindu culture amongst the Persian knowing people, specially Muslims.

Jain Kalpa-sutra Jain Kalpa-sutra (Indian manuscripts) also unrealistic color and stylized The eye protrudes, not realistic / horizontally painted, sacred text with images and Indian style decorations Dancing women, ideal Indian female types -- eyes are not realistic, you see both at the same time (proto-cubism) floral motifs and multi-colored. Grid system. Scene consists of haloed figures with a baby and attendant (Birth scene of the Jina) -- religious and royal significance also four female dancing figures.....

Influence on Mughal

The Houghton Shah-Nameh: "Rustam pursues Akvan" Houghton Shah-Nameh painting style is very unrealistic and colorful, this is Persian color style, and the perspective not realistic either (multiple) craggy rocks of wild colors, vertical Lavender ground used a lot and also gold ground, unrealistic (ex: hunting scene Rustam Pursues Akvan) flat space, vertical -- interplay between horse with pointy ears and Rustam

Influence on Mughal

Mughal Ramayana of Khan-Khanan 1587-1604

Khan-Khanan 1587-1604 Ramayana completed -- does use continuous narrative! Bharata and. Shatrughna arrive at Panchavati Circular-continuous narrative Giant who sleeps illustrated by Sahibdin, monoscenic (need help to fight demon Ravana, 18 pages are given to it) Kumbhakarna

Phase Two: 1858-1911 Great Mutiny in 1858 (First War of Independence 1858, British Crown takes direct control (The Raj) of colonies in India, Queen Victoria as the empress of India (1877) and her images were everywhere, she was accepted as an absentee monarch

Late 18th Cent: Picturesque landscapes and Brit painters Landscapes with perspective, picturesque oil paintings, realism (seem objective, documentary, but not: Reality Effect surely this is real, look at all the credible detail! Trick) Thomas Gainsborough (late 1700's) Watering Place Mr. and Mrs. Hastings with a Servant at Alipore, Calcutta 1783-87 by Johann Zoffany (race, class, and power present)

Babar: 1526-1530 Humayun: 1530- [1544-46]- 1550 Akbar: 1556-1605 Shah-Jahan [King of the World]: 1628 - 1658 (built taj mahal for Mumtaz Mahal [Light of the Palace]: died 1631)

MUGHAL EMPERORS

Shah Jahan

Mogul emperor of India during whose reign the finest monuments of Mogul architecture were built (including the Taj Mahal at Agra) (1592-1666)

Colonial India: "Artists in search of the picturesque" British Raj: British Colonial Rule in India Picturesque : wild unkempt rugged archaic historicity aesthetic, was very specific at first but then the term became more casual -- idea of beauty which came about with the imposition of colonial power / suggests that the needed someone to rule and civilize Pseduo-scientific approaches/ethnography is a part of this time period Camera Obscura: reflects image outside on canvas (trace exact proportions) Orientalism: sensationalized, "exotic" the tourist gaze realism that asserts its own objectivity "Absence" gaze of white male European colonialist gaze "fetsihistic idea of the native" and what it meant to be in India

Phase 1: 1771-1858 British Artists in India: East India Company establish a charter from Queen Elizabeth in 1600 Surat Factory in 1612 (time of Shakespeare, Jahangir, Rembrandt) - influence in there in the 1600, but the Brits came to govern parts of India via this company (three major areas - Calcutta, Madras--- controlled by East India Trading Co.) By 1750 there was a major presence of Brits in India; around 1750 artists visited in droves (commissions in Britain were hard to find, vast majority were struggling) India seemed promising, exotic, and picturesque Who buys these paintings? The Brits in India Zoffany painting of Brits in India, pictures of Indian scenes on wall (there's a painting of Sadhus under a tree in progress) Brit artists seeking to represent "the picturesque" 1700's this became popular (avoid neat smooth prettiness, go for rugged, unkempt beauty) it was hard to find in Britain, but there's tons in India "wild" (ex: Charles Stewart Hardinage Kate Nangra 1947) "paint bandits, not ladies with parasols" cult of the picturesque 1772-1858 James Green Indian Jugglers 1814, Sir Charles D'Oyly Fishers of Small Fry 1830

Pukka: stone, permanent architectural form and when applied to and artist the British aesthetic and the gentleman artist Indo Saracenic : Indian + Muslim + British architectural hybrid is made by British architects [neutralize and repatriate toward a political agenda) create a broad national identity they can control (the choice of the two cultures implied they are the inheritors, hence the Mughal (last colonizers) reference. Chattri: architectural hexagonal pavilion with a dome and arches windows over Mughal memorials / tombs -- Indo saracenic feature Chajja eaves: little eave, Indo saracenic feature a little awning, or overheating over a window

Ravi Varma Sarasvati 1881 Oleograph, oil painting, and silver bowl -- heavily reproduced -- even as a tea set /"Madras tea set" Lakshmi and Krishna His images have pathos and there is an emotional quality to the sitter, this is kind of European Renaissance perspective However, used (Hindu) Indian stories which was his sense of Nationalism Artist as a genius / individuality meets mass production and commodification (tea set, as a British thing, but Varma did it Hindu style)

Victory of Indrajit 1905, Ravana Abducting Sita 1895 : Indian Historic genre Galaxy of Musicians 1889 "pan-Indian" identity and the western tradition of portraiture a vision of Mother India as eclectic mix of different regions (connoted by dress)

Tagore (Bengal School) had a different vision of Mother India 1906, floating, linear watercolor (Mughal and Japanese) also small. Not emotional. Not about the picturesque perspective

Narrative Types: discuss Dehejia's narrative modes. -monoscenic -linear/sequential -continuous -circular continuous -synoptic -synoptic with conflation -narrative network Truly performative and immersive experience and only way to experience it together is if someone reads it aloud to you on the reverse Becomes performative and immersive - multiple senses are engaged Mughals use the monoscenic much more than the Rajput court do Narrative Network - Dehejia

Treatment of narrative if Jagat Singh's Ramayana: A Preliminary Study Linear/Sequential Narrative or the Monoscenic Narrative in the Western way -Cartoon format a distinct sequence of events -Because we know Garfield's love of food, -we can jump and get there we don't need 1 or two- Just one scene - we can infer - Knowledgeable viewer Continuous narrative: - Expect it takes out time markers unlike linear narrative - You see a character appearing multiple times - Much more common in Indian context, Ram does on each page -We have to sign temporal significance to the appearance of the figure -Not in mughal painting - Akbar on the page once -In the face of mughal authority Synoptic Narrative - mixes things up -Repeated scenes, removes text - Requires a very knowledgeable viewer to unpack it - Same character used to narrate two scenes

Taj Mahal Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India. Masons, marble workers, mosaicists, and decorators working under the supervision of Ustad Ahmad Lahori, architect of the emperor. 1632-1653 C.E. Stone masonry and marble with inlay of precious and semiprecious stones; gardens The Taj Mahal is an excellent example of the golden age of Muslim architecture. The design of the complex incorporates Iranian features such as octagonal shape, Indian features such as the bulbous dome and Asian features such as cylindrical minarets. Muslim decorative arts include calligraphy, geometry and flower forms. Most important was the ideal of symmetry as a major element in the design of the Taj Mahal.

a tomb built by Shah Jahan for his wife

Taj Mahal

beautiful mausoleum at Agra built by the Mogul emperor Shah Jahan (completed in 1649) in memory of his favorite wife

Ramayana (illustrated in 1600)

one of two classical Hindu epics telling of the banishment of Rama from his kingdom and the abduction of his wife by a demon and Rama's restoration to the throne

Abanindranath Tagore

painted "Bharat Mata" (Mother india)