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Sunday, 12 February 2012
VISIONS OF MUGHAL INDIA
"Special Exhibition at the Ashmolean Museum."
By: Julia Gasper  The Ashmolean has a huge collection of Indian art, but whendid you last go to see it? This exhibition of paintings from the collection of the artist Howard Hodgkins is a way of whetting your appetite to tempt you to return and discover the treasures that most of us don’t go to see often enough. The title “Visions of Mughal India” is a little bit misleading as half of the art in this exhibition is not Mughal but from the Hindu kingdoms and principalities. It means India at the time of the dominant Mughal empire in the sixteenth to early nineteenth centuries, a time when India was not a country but a continent divided into hundreds of tiny states, with a variety of religions and cultures. Even in the paintings from the court of the Mughal emperors we find a very eclectic mix of ideas and influences. If the court had been strictly Islamic, representational painting of any kind would not have been allowed. Yet it flourished, and not only did the artists depict life around them but they also painted stories from Hindu myths and religious epics. It was the Emperor Akbar the Great who encouraged and commissioned them to do so. Indeed, under this very tolerant and enlightened ruler the great Hindu epic the Mahabaratha was actually translated into Persian for the Muslim rulers to enjoy. The age of Akhbar was a golden age of synchretism and cultural exchange. The paintings from the Hindu states are very conventionalized but gradually grow less naive and show distinct influence by the more sophisticated Islamic artists. Mythology and court life are the favourite subjects. Gods fight demons, Krishna leads his cattle, while in marble palaces overlooking lakes, the Rajas and their favoured courtiers sit in council, listen to musicians play the tanpura (a kind of lute) watch dancing girls, and feast at evening. There are many wonderful pictures of animals here, especially elephants, richly caparisoned and adorned with bells and tassels they were the pride of the princely courts and the terror of the battlefield. Riding an elephant was a bit like having a Rolls-Royce, the ultimate status symbol. There are many paintings too of hunting - and how many different sorts of animals they hunted! Hunting for lions, tigers, buffalo, wild boar, and gamebirds (using trained hawks) are all depicted. as is the very skilled hunting for wild elephants to capture and tame. Even the fish in the palace ponds were not safe from the arrow of a skilled archer. The portraits of rulers remind us that this was a warrior civilisation. Rajas and noblemen loved to be depicted mounted on steeds for battle, armed with swords and spears. While dutifully glorifying them, the artists often lavished detail on a flower, a tree or even a printed fabric that caught their eye. This is an exciting and stimulating exhibition that should spur many of us to return and enjoy the Ashomolean's Oriental art collections more frequently. Julia Gasper. 12th Feb. 2012. Source: http://www.ashmolean.org/
Visions of Mughal India: The Collection of Howard Hodgkin
Exhibition | 2 Feb-22 Apr 2012 | Galleries 59 & 60 | £6/£4 (inc. Gift Aid) This exhibition of Indian paintings will show the collection of the artist Howard Hodgkin in its entirety for the first time. The collection comprises the main types of court painting that flourished during the Mughal period (c.1550-1850), including the refined naturalistic works of the imperial court, the subtle paintings of the Deccani Sultanates, and the bold, vibrant styles of the Rajput kingdoms. Hodgkin has been a passionate collector of Indian paintings since his schooldays, and has made a personal collection, formed by an artist’s eye, which has long been considered one of the finest of its kind in the world. | ||
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